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COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr 



Altars of Sacrifice 



A POEM 



BY 



M. M. TE AG AR 




A standard borne from starlit skies 

When Southland's spirits, brave afid true, 

Gave all in holy sacrifice 
Beneath the Starry Cross of Blue, 



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lUB«AfiY of CONGRESS 
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Copyright 
By M. M. Teagar 



All rights reserved 





DEDICATED 

To the 
memory of 
the brave, he- 
roic spirits who gave 
their lives in sacri- 
fice upon the altar of their 
country, and their survivors ; — the 
mothers, wives and daughters, whose pa- 
tient fortitude and heroic endurance gave 
inspiration to patriotic devotion ; and to the 
Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, whose lives 
are devoted to the vindication of their cause as weighed 
in the scales of Justice, affirmed by the impartial 
verdict of mankind, sanctified on the altars of Faith 
AND AMPLY VERIFIED BY THE TRUTH OF HISTORY. 



Lei mevi 'ry weave unfading chaplets here — 
Bright honors shed the light of glory dow?i , 

Undying Love bestow a silent tear, 
And jewels rare bedeck the soldier's crown. 



INDEX. 



Part L 

Introduction, 9 

National. Pridk, 11 

Freedom, 1-4 

Inhumanity, 20 

Justice, • 25 

Truth, 31 

Patriotism, 33 

The Moraust, 39 

Extremes, 45 

MoRAi. Victories, 51 

Part II. 

Apostrophe to Southland, 55 

Tribute to "Old Dominion," 59 

Woman's Sacrifice, 63 

The Mother, 66 

The Widow, 70 

Woman's Patriotic Devotion, 73 

United Daughters of the Confederacy ... 78 

The Cross of Honor, 80 

Southland's Dead, 86 

The Private Soldier, 94 

[5] 



INDEX 



Part III. 

Illusions of Peace, 105 

Monuments of Crime, 109 

Of Desolation in Georgia, 112 

Of Incendiarism in South Carolina, . . . .113 

The Message of Peace, 116 

Southland's Future Greatness and Pros- 
perity, 119 

United Confederate Veterans, 121 

Submission to the Divine Will, 128 

The Path of Duty, 134 




PART I. 

VINDICATION 



Fiat justitia ruat caelum. 



VINDICATION 

I 

INDULGENT Muse, the tongue and pen inspire 
With Heavenly gifts and words of Truth Divine ; 
And Hght the soul with true poetic fire, 

Where valor sleeps and spotless glories shine. 
In polished lines commemorate the brave 
In sacred tomes and monumental pile, 
Such as the gods, to Grecian valor, gave 
The blind old bard of Scio's rocky isle. 



II 



Some gifted hand to paint each battle scene — 

The sulphurous smoke that hung on breathless air 
Above the crimson flood that rolled between 

The shores of hope and valley of despair. 
To lift the veil that screens from mortal eyes 

The glorious deeds that win the world's applause — 
The flood of tears — enduring sacrifice 

On reeking altars lain in freedom's cause. 

Ill 

Glean from the graves where sleep the voiceless dead, 
Wherever freedom's dauntless spirit roams; 

The light of truth and inspiration shed 
O'er smoking fields and desolated homes. 
t9] 



10 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

To consecrate the crimson tide that flowed 
From victims slain in freedom's sacrifice — 

The offerings that wilHng hearts bestowed 
And honor guards where Christian virtue Hes. 



IV 



Portray the cries of helpless innocence — 

The lone sad story of a widow's tears — 
The sacrifice — the agonies intense, 

Absorbing all that love to life endears. 
Gray monuments from Egypt's sands arise — 

Mute witnesses of kingly pomp and pride, 
Of those who sought their names immortalize 

In cryptic vaults, and cruel vices hide. 



V 



Far more than these does honest virtue claim 

For meed of praise, and honor's voice prolong, 
To gain a niche in monumental fame. 

Where Muses join in one harmonious song. 
For good or ill, on Time's historic page. 

Is borne man's inhumanity to man, 
While struggling through the depths of every age, 

His deeds explore — his secret motives scan. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE ii 

VI 

The immortal bards have sung in other days 

Of glorious deeds of valor and renown — 
Immortalized, in rapturous songs of praise, 

The shield, the sword, the sceptre and the crown; 
Have glorified the wickedness and crime 

That blazed ambition's pathway far and near, 
And crystalized, in classic prose and rhyme, 

The names of those who led the world's career. 



VII 



And thus it was, the " mistress of the world," 

With songs of triumph, marched her legions home, 
Nor yet her proud, victorious banners furled 

Till all had vowed allegiance to Rome. 
And thus it was, when Grecian valor rose, 

For Helen's sake, the Trojan hosts destroy, 
That Homer sang in rapturous praise of those 

Who battered down the stricken walls of Troy. 

VIII 

Since God, for sin, the gates of Eden closed, 
And man ordained to earn his daily bread 

By ceaseless toil, to sin and death exposed, 
The soul Divine, by freedom's impulse led, 



12 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Has striven with the hand of power and might, 
And 'gainst oppression brave resistance made — 

Condemned the wrong, and justified the right. 
And low, at Justice' feet, due homage paid. 



IX 



*Tis not at pagan shrines now freemen kneel 

To voice in praise their thanks to Him above. 
But, in the temple of the heart, they feel 

The majesty of patriotic love. 
Warmed by the sun of intellectual day. 

With souls inspired by Truth and Light Divine, 
A'nd grateful hearts, their simple tribute pay. 

And cast their laurels down at freedom's shrine. 



X 



How oft we dream of happy days of yore. 

When youth was fraught with gaiety and love, 
And Heaven smiled on nature's ample store, 

And gentle hands her flow'ry garlands wove. 
When joy and peace filled every heart with glee, 

And stern ambition swelled the youthful breast, 
As visions flit across life's tranquil sea 

To blest abodes of quietude and rest. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 13 

XI 

Or calmly meditate upon those hours 

When life's gay spring, with all its glad'ning train — 
Its sparkling dews — its verdant fields — its flowers, 

Restored the soul to life and love again. 
'Tis then, around the hopeful heart, we twine 

In confidence the silken cords of life. 
And freedom's stars, in brilliant lustre shine 

In triumph o'er the fields of human strife. 

XII 

Perchance, amidst the pulseless solitude 

Of night, when all is hushed in quiet sleep. 
With not a sound or footstep to intrude. 

As o'er each page life's flitting shadows creep, 
In dreamy silence there, we fondly pore. 

With active, eager thought and fevered brain. 
O'er some fictitious battle scene of yore. 

Where dead and dying strew the sanguine plain. 

XIII 

Or marvelous tale of still more modern date. 
We calmly trace some gallant chieftain through 

His deeds of blood — his shifting scenes of fate — 
His tale of love, however false or true ; 



14 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Or hear him whisper how he wooed and won 
Some tender heart — subdued some daring foe — 

Struck hands with death, or bravely scorned to shun 
The path where duty led for weal or woe. 

XIV 

In quiet, peaceful homes, 'tis sweet to dream 

Of Liberty, the priceless boon of Heaven ; 
Borne on the tide of Time's tempestuous stream, 

By angry storms of human passion driven ; 
Rescued from bloody hands and galling chains. 

To elevate the tortured, fettered soul. 
Until enlightened mind and conscience gains 

For man the sovereign right of self control. 

XV 

Sweet Liberty ! Whose gen'rous impulse guides 

To higher aims, and teaches man to guard 
With watchful care, against the storm that rides 

On passion's sea, where stranded wrecks have 
marred 
His brightest hopes, his fairest prospects quenched, 

Or swept away in battle's angry flood 
One half the human race, and madly drenched 

Each hill and plain with streams of human blood. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 1 5 

XVI 

The wayworn traveller greets with fond delight 

The green oasis on the desert waste, 
Where grateful shades and gurgling streams invite 

His parched tongue its cooling waters taste ; 
And so, the soul upon the wastes of life, 

Borne down beneath the tide of human woes, 
Still hopes, beyond the sea of bloody strife, 

To breathe the air of freedom and repose. 

XVII 

Inspiring hope, that stirs the human breast; 

Warms into life the heart of brooding care — 
The spirit soothes to calm and peaceful rest — 

Dispels the gloom and misery of despair. 
Youth in its golden age, strong manhood's prime. 

The mariner, abroad on stormy seas — 
The culprit, doomed to expiate his crime, 

Rely with hope in fortune's favored breeze. 

XVIII 

Though freedom slumbers in the lap of peace. 
While chains are forged to bind her tighter still, 

And right and justice plead for man's release 
In base subjection to a sovereign's will, 



l6 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

We, step by step, ascend the mountain steep, 
And niche by niche, the stony pathway hew. 

And lay the monumental stones that keep, 
Undimmed, the stars of glory still in view. 

XIX 

Though mighty still, e'en in the arms of death, 

By spoiler's hands did ancient Greece expire; 
Again the world caught up the fleeting breath, 

And lit the soul with patriotic fire. 
'Twas not in vain Athenian patriots died — 

'Twas not in vain the Spartan heroes fell ; 
Their names, revered with patriotic pride. 

In freemen's hearts and sacred mem'ry dwell. 



XX 



Though darkness sweeps across the gulf of years, 

And centuries past sleep o'er the dark abyss. 
Though power and pride have swelled the tide of tears, 

And death and woe o'erturned the cup of bliss, 
Yet, freedom breathes with glowing fervor still, 

The spirit born of oft repeated wrong. 
Surviving all the art of human skill 

To force the weak submission to the strong. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 17 

XXI 

No earthly power subdues the human mind — 

The gift of Heaven — born with creation's birth — 
The breath of God, no mortal strength can bind, 

But reigns supreme, the monarch of the earth. 
Ambition's tread — the pride of haughty kings — 

The galling fetters of a prison cell — 
The lash, the stake, with all their torturing stings, 

Quench not its fires, or restless spirit quell. 

XXII 

The spirit, born of freedom, lingers on, 

A latent spark beneath the wrecks of Time, 
From fires of weakness and oppression drawn, 

And forced submission to a nation's crime. 
Still slumb'ring 'neath the ruins of the past. 

Securely nursed in calm solicitude. 
It lights the peasant's cot, 'mid wintry blast, 

With anxious hope and patient fortitude. 

XXIII 

As mountain streams their crystal waters bring, 
With gathering strength to swell the rivers flow, 

So great events from trivial causes spring. 

To sweep the course of Time for weal or woe. 



l8 . ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Kingdoms and empires have their rise and fall, 
And desolation marks the Vandal tread; 

Glory responds to stern Ambition's call, 
And Avarice feeds upon a nation's dead. 

XXIV 

When arrogance and bigotry displayed, 

In Heaven's name, the banners of the Cross, 
And merchandise of souls of sinners made, 

Indulging sins for sums of paltry dross. 
The hosts of Heaven rejoiceH when Luther freed 

Man's conscience from the cloister and the cell — 
Divorced the soul from Rome's licentious greed. 

And quenched the torch that lit the flames of hell. 

XXV 

When Pharaoh's daughter, at the river side, 

Protection gave, with kind and gentle hand, 
The infant child of whom 'twas prophesied 

Should lead God's children to their promised land, 
Secured to Israel's hosts their chosen one — 

A shepherd exile, called from Midian's plains. 
To lead them forth from Egypt's burning sun — 

The tyrant's power, and the bondman's chains. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 19 

XXVI 

And He, the meek and lowly Nazarine, 

In exile cast, escaped the tyrant's sword, 
While mourning draped the homes of Palestine, 

And guiltless blood of innocence was poured, 
Proclaimed to man salvation's waters free; 

God will to do, the erring soul to save, 
To humble fishermen of Galilee, 

To preach his name Divine Commission gave. 

XXVII 

When Church and State the rule of faith prescribed 

For man's redemption to a sin-cursed race. 
The pioneers of sacred Truth imbibed 

The wholesome air of God's redeeming Grace. 
And, by His Word of Inspiration, brought 

A light to life and immortality. 
And self exile from persecution sought 

To worship God with mind and conscience free. 

XXVIII 

'Mid wintry storms and ocean tempests tossed. 
They braved the perils of a trackless sea; 

And refuge found upon a foreign coast. 
To breathe the wholesome air of Liberty. 



20 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

In savage wilds and boundless forests, where 
First freedom's voice awoke the solitude, 

Their songs of praise were borne upon the air, 
No hand to stay — no censorship intrude. 

XXIX 

Could we but know the agony that steals. 

With leaden weight, upon the stricken soul. 
When Mercy, on behalf of right, appeals 

In vain when passion yields to no control ; 
Behold Ambition clothed with pomp and power- 

The despot throned upon the heights above. 
Awaiting each, impatient of the hour, 

To quench the spark of freedom, life and love. 

XXX 

We open wide the ponderous book of Time — 

Each footprint note — its ample pages scan. 
And trace, in characters of blood and crime, 

Man's reckless inhumanity to man; 
His petty schemes — his prejudice and pride, 

Within the circuit of his small domain — 
No torture spared — no cruelty denied — 

Justice has fled and Mercy pleads in vain. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 21 

XXXI 

On every age is borne a tale of woe — 

Of stranded wrecks upon the barren shore 
Of Hfe's tempestuous sea, whose ebb and fiow 

Of human tears the spoils of conquest bore ; 
Ambitious schemes concede no right or claim 

To aught of worth, by honest virtue won, 
That bigotry demands, in Heaven's name, 

As lawful spoil for faithful service done. 

XXXII 

Thus holy zeal, the tie of friendship, breaks. 

And spectres grim in nightly visions haunt 
The cottage home where honest virtue takes 

Refuge in helpless poverty and want. 
By all that's sacred in a widow's tears — 

By all that's holy in the sight of God — 
By all the hopes that human life endears, 

Let Justice plead : Oppression spare thy rod. 

XXXIII 

'Twas ever thus the strong oppressed the weak, 
Where petty tyrants hold supreme control ; 

The tongue of Justice has no voice to speak, 
No hand but death's to free the tortured soul ; 



22 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

To gaping wounds no healing balm applies — 
To cries of innocence no mercy gave — 

Each captive foeman deemed a lawful prize, 
At captor's will condemned for life a slave. 

XXXIV 

To grace a monarch's installation day, 

The prison cell, his cruel want supplies ; 
Ten thousand lives on pagan altars lay, 

And offered up in human sacrifice. 
Inquisitors, in priestly robes, proclaim 

For heretics the wheel, the rack, the stake, 
And scourge humanity in Jesus' name. 

And thousands slay for mere opinion's sake. 

XXXV 

Possessing naught of love for human kind. 

Or Charity to temper Christian zeal, 
While bigotry and cruelty refined ' 

No torture spared to mercy's last appeal. 
So crime and persecution cursed our race — 

The guillotine — the block — the prison cell 
Supplant the Christian work of love and peace 

With tortures, tears and agonies of hell. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 23 

XXXVI 

Cupidity and mercenary gain — 

Religious tests enforcing human creeds, 
Inspired by evil passion, still profane 

The name of God in cruel, heartless deeds. 
The scourge of war, urged by vindictive wrath, 

That desolates a Heaven favored land. 
Leaves tears and smoking ruins in its path, 

And desert wastes beneath the spoiler's hand. 

XXXVII 

Thus may we trace the humble life of one. 

Upon the world a helpless orphan cast, 
Whose Christian purity and virtue won 

Abiding hope through sufif'ring of the past. 
Whose hands had sown the seeds in early life 

That bear the ripened fruits that God designed 
To lift the soul above the cruel strife 

That sweeps athwart the path of humankind. 

XXXVIII 

While fallen man must groan beneath the curse 
Of God, his tears, his agonies and woes 

Demand that Christian Charity disburse 
The aid that human sympathy bestows. 



24 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



And true to God, to honest purpose true, 
And every pulse of human nature kind. 

With motives pure in all we dare and do — 
The heart, in love sincere, the soul refined. 

XXXIX 

He must, who, by a noble life, aspires 

To wear the crown the righteous Judge shall give. 
Conform his life to all that God requires, 

And by the square of Christian virtue live. 
A noble life is that which purifies 

The tainted atmosphere in which we move ; 
The squahd home its needful want supplies 

With gifts of pure benevolence and love. 



XL 



Strive as we may the task is never done. 

While yet along the path of human tread, 
Misfortune steals, for yet each setting sun 

Leaves many tears of sorrow still unshed. 
At home, abroad, wherever we may roam. 

Some cry of want is borne upon our ears ; 
Some sad appeal comes from the cheerless home 

Of suffering, of poverty and tears. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 25 

XLI 

Though Christian hearts their all may consecrate 

To Charity, and bounteous plenty spread, 
Some Lazarus still lies at the rich man's gate, 

A pleading suppliant for daily bread. 
Some prison doors 'gainst tender mercy barred- 
Some human blood stains freedom's altar still- 
Some zealous patriot, aged and battled scarred. 
Yields forced submission to a tyrant's will. 

XLII 

Alas! How frail is human justice where 

Duplicity must triumph in the end ; 
Premeditated falsehood weave a snare. 

Dissimulated in the guise of friend ; 
With false pretense a helping hand to lend 

To those who strive, with patriotic zeal, 
Their freedom gain, their sacred rights defend, 

When right unmasks what wrong cannot conceal. 

XLIII 

'Tis said : " Thrice armed is he whose cause is just,' 
Inspired by motives honest and sincere. 

Whose heart reposes in a pious trust 

In Him, whose overruling hand is near; 



26 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

To guard the right in all we dare or do, 

Upon the waves of righteous impulse borne, 

Succeed or fail, to honor's standard true, 

Though might prevails, and right of justice shorn. 

XLIV 

Thus forced submission to the hand of power 

Pleads naught in aid of an unholy cause; 
No righteous judgments sanctify the hour. 

When right concedes to wrong unrighteous laws. 
What though the victor claims the right to play 

The tyrant, and humanity, in vain 
For mercy pleads oppressive judgment stay 

Till Justice shall assume her throne again. 

XLV 

Can forced obedience that's born of hate, 

Engendered by repeated sense of wrong, 
A loyal self-devotion stimulate 

For those to whom the grievous faults belong? 
The slave, by force, yields to the master's will — 

The unarmed victim to the murderer's threat, 
Yet each' adheres to freedom's manhood still. 

And may perchance forgive, but not forget. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 2/ 

XLVI 

Is righteous judgment measured by success? 

Or virtue gauged by vict'ry or retreat? 
Is right made wrong by failure of redress, 

Or cause less just by reason of defeat? 
Does even handed justice blind her eyes, 

And so adjust her scales to cruder laws. 
As to demand by human sacrifice 

Of blood to test the justice of a cause? 

XLVII 

No monuments or castellated domes, 

Erected by victorious spoilers hands 
On smoking fields and desolated homes 

Are sanctified by Heaven's just demands. 
Though other heads may wear the victor's crown, 

And plant their standard on a nation's grave. 
Yet Justice sheds the light of glory down, 

Where virtue guards the honor of the brave. 

XLVIII 

Does virtue dwell in an unrigheous cause? 

Justice and Truth in falsehood and deceit ? 
Or motives pure that seek the world's applause 

Where selfish ends of power and passion meet? 



28 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Where Mercy, Peace and Justice are denied, 
And savage deeds of cruelty refined, 

And brutal Passion, Avarice and Pride 
Extolled as noblest virtues of mankind ? 

XLIX 

Where blind credulity and selfish greed, 

In right or wrong, the victors justify, 
And on the vitals of a nation feed. 

And right or wrong, her sacred rights deny ? 
Nay — Truth and Virtue have their own reward, 

Inspired in hearts sincere and motives pure, 
Where right and justice honest dues accord, 

And each to each just recompense secure. 



Some men are born to rule and others serve, 

Yet each for all his native gifts employ. 
And each for all the common rights preserve, 

And as a whole the common weal enjoy ; 
Impartial justice dealing free to all — 

Entitled each, howe'er content to live. 
In humble cot or princely palace hall, 

To share the bounties God has meant to give. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 29 

LI 

The fire that Hghts the humble peasant's home — 

The frugal fare that weights his scanty board, 
The petty cares that daily go and come, 

Are blessings all his scanty means afford. 
He, in his little empire, breathes the air 

Of sweet domestic freedom unrestrained; 
Content to live upon his simple fare, 

By prudent thrift and honest toil obtained. 

LII 

Justice to all, exclusive rights to none — 

Freedom alike to peasant, priest or crown — 
God's heritage bequeathed by sire to son, 

Achieved on fields of valor and renown. 
Are bounties all our fathers freely gave 

In bonds of faith and confidence assured. 
Sealed with the blood that marks the patriot's grave, 

And chartered rights in ample terms secured. 

LIII 

To those who dare invade the common rights 
And guarantees, by sacred compact given. 

No plea that sordid selfishness invites. 
Is justified within the sight of Heaven ; 



30 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



No pretext born of bigotry and pride, 

No luring prize that haunts ambitious dreams, 

Or false device to treachery allied, 

From perjured guilt or broken faith redeems. 

LIV 

Historic truth alone will vindicate. 

By wise forethought and swift unerring sense, 
The motives and the honor of a State, 

Directed by a ruling Providence. 
Was right subserved, because, in Allah's name. 

The hosts of Islam rose from desert sands. 
And scourged the Orient with sword and flame 

To propagate their faith in Heaven's demands ? 



LV 



Was cause less just when Europe madly hurled 

Her hosts upon the plains of Palestine — 
The sacred banner of the Cross unfurled 

To drag the Crescent from the Holy Shrine ? 
When mail-clad warriors of Christian lands, 

In common cause, united to regain 
The Holy Sepulchre from impious hands, 

Gave Europe's chivalry and blood in vain? 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 31 

LVI 

Do Christian faith and virtue now approve 

The horrid scenes of St. Bartholomew, 
When, in the name of Charity and Love, 

ReUgious zeal defenceless thousands slew? 
Yet Holy Orders sanctified the deed ; 

Licentiousness on wings of passion ride, 
And bigotry and greedy av'rice feed 

Where crime, in Heaven's name, is justified. 

LVH 

'Tis said : " Truth crushed to earth will rise again,'^ 

To censure wrong, and vindicate the right; 
Though puny arms, in weakness, strive in vain 

To stay the strong, resistless hand of might. 
We know there is a God who shapes our ends, 

And fashions all according to His will ; 
In whose good time the meed of justice lends, 

According as we strive for good or ill. 

LVHI 

Though grief, with tears, the cup of sorrow fills, 
And angry strife dissolves the social tie. 

Yet Truth Divine, eternal as the hills, 
O'er all survives, whatever else may die. 



32 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Falsehood and pride may so adjust the scales 
Of justice on behalf of strength and power, 

That error, born of passion, still prevails. 
Exulting in the triumphs of an hour. 

LIX 

The monarch's throne may crumble into dust — 
The sceptre lose the magic of its sway — 

The tyrant's sword, sheathed in its scabbard, rust- 
Aside, the crown, an empty bauble, lay; 

Though perish all, the vital breath alone 
Of God survives the ravages of Time, 

While error strives to reap the harvest sown 
That serves to fill the catalogue of crime. 



LX 



Unholy zeal and mercenary aims, 

Hypocrisy and falsehood in disguise, 
Must yield, perforce, when Truth asserts her claims, 

And lifts the veil to just, impartial eyes ; 
Groping amidst the errors of the past. 

Each right adjust, each secret motive scan ; 
From passion's dross refined, each model cast. 

To " justify the ways of God to man." 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 33 

LXI 

When reason once ascends her rightful throne, 

Then Justice will assert impartial sway — 
Unerring Truth accord to man his own, 

And right sustain, results be as they may. 
Though victory no ear to mercy lends. 

Yet hope survives when public virtue fails, 
And Truth the wrong condemns, the right defends, 

For, " Great is Truth and, over all prevails." 

LXII 

The fire that lights the patriotic heart. 

No kindling needs from mercenary aims; 
No greed, or selfish motives can impart 

To gallant hearts the valor freedom claims; 
No sense of patriotic zeal inspires 

A selfish courage in the arm that draws 
Its trusty blade, when honor's voice requires 

A common effort in a common cause. 

LXIII 

Though desolation sweeps across the land, 
And smoking ruins mark deserted homes, 

And tramping legions march with sword and brand, 
And watchfires blaze from turret, cot and domes — 



34 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Though death, along the path of conquest, lies, 
And subjugation threatens peaceful rest, 

The patriot, true to freedom's cause, denies 
No sacrifice that honor could suggest. 

LXIV 

And thus it was the Spartan heroes fell, 

Whose feeble arm the Persian hosts defied, 
Where valor strove and left but one to tell 

The world how Spartan patriots fought and died. 
Thermopylae — inscribed on storied page — 

A synonym for all that's brave and true, 
Is borne upon the tongue of every age. 

And stirs the patriotic heart anew. 

LXV 

Thus Athens strove, with feeble hands, to foil 

The conquering hosts that lined her Attic shores, 
And rose as one to guard her classic soil. 

And drive invasion from her temple doors. 
From mountain heights she broke the silent pause 

The gods, propitious urged her spirits on ; 
And freedom triumphed in her holy cause, 

When vict'ry swept the field of Marathon. 



• ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 35 

LXVI 

Bright honors bore the strength of manhood's prime, 

And glory blazed the rugged path of fame, 
As, sweeping down the corridors of Time 

In welcome strains, the voice of freedom came. 
Enduring still on Time's historic page, 

Their lasting monuments of glory stand, 
As sentinels, to guard the heritage 

That Heaven bestowed, and human rights demand. 

LXVII 

That cause in which the star of Poland fell, 

And Warsaw's plains were drenched in human 
blood; 
That cause in which was sung the name of Tell, 

And chimed in chorus with the mountain flood ; 
And Scotland did her crimson currents pour 

Upon the gory field of Bannockburn ; 
And Ireland's sons, in puny weakness, bore 

Unmarked the dust that sleeps in memory's urn. 

LXVIII 

It was for this the gallant Warren bled ; 

For this it was that Sidney Johnston fell ; 
As each, defending home and country, led 

Their steady lines through storms of shot and shell. 



36 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

It was for this, on Quebec's rugged steeps, 
In sacrifice, the brave Montgomery gave 

His Hfe, his all, and '' Stonewall " Jackson sleeps. 
Lamented, in a fallen hero's grave. 

LXIX 

It was for this, our patriot fathers died. 

And meed of praise for matchless valor won, 
And freemen breathed, with partiotic pride. 

The loved and honored name of Washington. 
For this, upon a thousand battle fields. 

Did Southland's sons resist the tyrant's plea; 
Nor did the fierce unequal contest yield. 

But with the sword of brave and gallant LEE. 

LXX 

It was for this, that Southern blood was poured — 

Christening her crimsoned soil in freedom's name — 
Withstood the angry scourge of fire and sword. 

Nor yielded aught to noble manhood's shame. 
For this, it was, when led by hopes forlorn. 

Her heroes fell on mountain, hill and plain ; 
Whose only crime was that, to freedom born, 

They knew their rights, and, knowing, dared 
maintain. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 17 

LXXI 

Base recreant he, whose lawful rights assailed, 

In self defence no brave resistance makes, 
But suffers all the servile shame entailed 

On him in whom no sense of courage wakes. 
Such miscreants deserve no better fate 

Than kiss the rod that strikes their manhood down, 
And suffer all the torturous wrongs that hate 

And malice could suggest to priest or crown. 

LXXII 

The merest worm that blindly trails the dust, 

With feeble strength resists the footman's tread ; 
The shrinking coward foils the deadly thrust, 

By nature's inborn self protection bred. 
To all are given some sense of self-defence, 

The high, the low, the insect and the brute, 
From instinct born, or swift intelligence, 

Their own protect, and native right dispute. 

LXXIII 

And so, no sacrifice, however great, 
Restrains an honest effort to sustain 

The vested rights and honor of a State, 

While life may last, or ling'ring hopes remam. 



38 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Though right may fail before persistent might, 
And weakness bow submission to the strong, 

'Twere better thus to die defending right, 
Than Hve and bear the odium of the wrong. 

LXXIV 

No tempting bribe poHutes the patriot's hand — 

No virtue yields to falsehood and deceit — 
No treason lurks where Truth and Honor stand 

To plead the cause where right and justice meet. 
No patriot's hand invades anothers right, 

Amply secured by good and wholesome laws — 
No virtue dwells where selfish ends unite, 

To trample o'er a just and righteous cause. 

LXXV 

No selfish arrogance or pompous pride 

Inspires the manly, generous and brave; 
Or duty, 'midst the storms of passion, guide 

To deeds unworthy of the meanest slave. 
The noble heart is cast in purer mold — 

From malice free, from passion's dross refined — 
By no designs of selfishness controlled, 

In bonds of love, at peace with all mankind. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 39 

LXXVI 

The moralists, who prate of *' higher law," 

Heed not the crime their selfish hearts condone; 
Twixt God and man their line of duty draw, 

Correcting others sins, but not their own; 
Condemning others faults, yet tolerate 

Far graver faults, which they themselves possess — 
Assuming censorship o'er Church and State, 

Intrenched behind the pulpit and the Press. 

LXXVII 

Who arrogate the virtues of mankind — 

Whose prayers are heard upon the crowded street — 
Whose eyes, to Christian Charity, are blind — 

Whose ears are deaf to cries at Mercy's feet. 
Who rob a land of all that life endears — 

Like vultures, on a nation's vitals feed — 
Drench desolated homes with widow's tears, 

And pray to God to justify the deed. 

LXXVIII 

Who gather harvests where they have not sown — 
Devoutly kneel in sanctimonious prayer; 

Virtues extol, exclusively their own, 

With thanks that they are not as others are ; 



40 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



Who heed no law, though sanctified by time, 
That curbs the reins of arrogance and pride ; 

Whose moral code maintains whatever crime 
Is done in Heaven's name, is justified. 

LXXIX 

Whose vengeance, hatred and malevolence, 

By " higher law," usurped the throne of Heaven, 
And washed their hands in blood of innocence. 

To blinded zeal and fiendish passion driven. 
The prime of youth, decrepitude of age. 

Alike condemned without remorse or shame, 
That left a crimson blot on hist'ry's page 

To testify to crimes in Heaven's name. 

LXXX 

Who forged the chains of human servitude, 

Imploring God His kindly gifts bestow ; 
For paltry gold, the seeds of bondage strewed, 

To culminate in pestilence and woe. 
Who, when the law a traffic ceased to aid. 

And servile toil to serve a purpose well. 
Condemned the law Supreme themselves had made, 

A " covenant with death and league with hell." 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 41 

LXXXI 

Who scatter seeds of discord o'er a land, 

Where calm domestic peace and quiet reign; 
Who rule or ruin with a reckless hand 

Immersed in tears, while Justice pleads in vain. 
Whose conscience, seared, gave ear to no defence. 

Whose arrogance and eloquence sublime, 
With pious prayers, conceal a false pretence. 

To hide a wrong or justify a, crime. 

LXXXII 

No false pretence can justify a wrong — 

No narrow creed the laws of God ignore — 
To freemen no exclusive rights belong, 

Unshared alike by all, both rich and poor. 
No human code, adverse to Heaven's will. 

Can justify designs of power and pelf; 
The Law Divine, which says : Thou shalt not kill. 

Commands to love they neighbor as thyself. 

LXXXIII 

He, who assumes to judge his fellow man, 
And conduct mold consistent with his own. 

Should first his life, by test of virtue scan, 
Consistent with the light of reason shown. 



42 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Who, self-exiled, from persecution sought 
Refuge on foreign shores for conscience sake, 

Prescribed the law of conduct, mind and thought, 
Enforced between the gallows and the stake. 

LXXXIV 

Judge not, lest ye be judged, a sacred law, 

Proclaimed from Holy Mount by lips Divine; 
Whence erring man may inspiration draw. 

And judgments just o'er Christian virtue shine. 
But he, who wears the livery of Heaven, 

In which to serve the devil in disguise. 
Assumes a power no lawful riglTt has given — 

No moral code sustains or justifies. 

LXXXV 

Consistency — a precious jewel thou ! 

When freedom, masked, adjusts the monarch's 
crown. 
The crime that was becomes a virtue now. 

As interest bears the scales of Justice down ; 
And arrogant conceit and selfish pride. 

With power, allied to passion unrestrained, 
Condemned the cause of right or justified 

As best would serve the end to be attained. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 43 

LXXXVI 

Since Cain, the first born son of Adam's race, 

With guilty soul before his Maker stood 
Condemned, exiled, man's history we trace, 

Revealed in characters of human blood. 
In every age, from earth's remotest bound, 

Is heard, upborne from earth's sepulchral clod, 
Fraternal blood still crying from the ground 

In supplication to a righteous God ; 

LXXXVII 

And jealous rage and avarice combined, 

Allied alike to prejudice and hate, 
Conspire to thwart the ends that God designed 

To elevate man to his first estate. 
Yet Heaven's righteous Judgments ever stand 

To punish wrong and vindicate the right; 
Where ofif'rings proved, fulfilling his demand, 

Acceptable and pleasing in His sight. 

LXXXVHI 

No gifted pen, or tongue of eloquence — 

No false romance, devised for wealth or fame — 

No false pretext, disguised in moral sense, 

Escape the crime they work in freedom's name. 



44 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

The flood of tears, the agonies and woes — 
The ruin, wrecks and ravages of war 

And crime that follow in the wake of those 
Who scatter seeds of prejudice afar. 

LXXXIX 

Who stimulate with hate the plastic mind — 

Exhale from pen and tongue the noxious breath 
That leaves a poisonous atmosphere behind, 

To culminate in pestilence and death. 
The spirit, born of prejudice and hate, 

Where love is sacrificed to power and might, 
Respects no law — no creed inviolate 

That supersedes the plea that might makes right. 



XC 



In Holy Writ, 'tis said, that God will bring. 

To be adjudged according to His will, 
Our every work, with every secret thing. 

Whether it be for good or whether ill. 
Whose will it is that human strife shall cease — 

Fraternal love inspire the soul within. 
As over all presides the Prince of Peace 

To Judge the world of righteousness and sin 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 45 

XCI 

And Justice, in the light of Truth, reveals 

The covert means duplicity required, 
To shield the crime that treachery conceals, 

And base designs ambitious zeal inspired. 
When every scheme, device or evil thought, 

For motives, present or remote, shall be 
Before the bar of final judgment brought. 

And all shall bow to Heaven's wise decree. 

XCII 

In every phase of life, this lesson then 

We learn : Whate'er we hope to do or dare, 
Our lives are not alone what we have been, 

In duty to our God, but what we are. 
Who would his life for Christian virtue scan, 

And, like Ben Adam's name, lead all the rest, 
To love the Lord, must love his fellow man. 

For love of whom the love of God has blest. 

XCIII 

Though weakness yields submission to the strong. 
And naught of love or justice intervene. 

The fact remains, that all extremes are wrong. 
And sacred Truth is only found between ; 



46 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

When human passion lends attentive ears 
To sober thought and counsel, just and wise^ 

And reason, in the light of Truth adheres, 
With faith sincere, to mutual sacrifice. 

XCIV 

'Tis then, alone, extremities unite, 

To harmonize discordant elements ; 
Discarding wrong — accepting what is right, 

Removing bickerings of malcontents ; 
And prejudice and vain ambitious schemes. 

To reason's calmer judgment reconciled. 
In light of Truth, abandons all extremes, 

And passion yields to counsels just and mild. 

xcv 

So Christian virtue has its own reward 

Of conscience clear and void of all of¥ence ; 
No elements of faction or discord 

To curse a land with scenes of violence ; 
No brutal fiend to prop a despot's throne 

With base judicial crimes in Justice' name — 
No evil minds a grave ofifense condone, 

Or pretext urge to ease a sense of shame. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 47 

XCVI 

No cruel war to scourge a Christian land, 

And desolate in fratricidal strife, 
The home of innocence with sword and brand, 

And savage sacrifice of human Hfe; 
But, with the sword of loving kindness, reach 

The pious ends the wiU of Heaven designed. 
Of universal love bestowed on each, 

With peace on earth — Good will toward all mankind. 

XCVII 

No lurid skies, in sulphurous vapors, shed 

The noxious dews of pestilence and woe ; 
As vandal hosts stride o'er a nation's dead. 

Exulting in a nation's overthrow. 
And with each morn the work of death renew, 

Each night by torch display the lurid scenes ; 
And desolation o'er the pathway strew. 

Then plead the end to justify the means. 

XCVIII 

Extremes beget extremes, and passion wakes 
The dormant springs of energy and life, 

Until the tide of warring factions breaks 
Upon the bloody sea of civil strife. 



48 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Resistance borne on each contending wave — 
Passion and prejudice, that heed no law, 

To England's humbled pride a Cromwell gave — 
To France a Robspierre, Danton and Marat. 

XCIX 

When Jeffreys, in the service of his king, 

The ermine stained with blood in England's name, 
And did reproach upon his country bring. 

Reaped his reward in infamy and shame. 
Content to execute a sovereign's will. 

With morals base and cruelty refined. 
In characters of blood is written still 

His name in execration of mankind. 



When midnight shouts and clamorous voices rang 

Amidst the flames that lit the hills of Rome, 
By lurid glare the lips of Nero sang 

The Trojan's fall and desolated home; 
And pretext gave to perpetrate a crime 

'Gainst Christian faith and faultless innocence; 
Displaying on the bloody page of Time 

The shameless perfidy of false pretence. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 49 

CI 

Spain, in her conscious plenitude of power, 

Allured by golden dreams of wealth and ease, 
Bore in her martial train her boasted flower 

Of chivalry beyond the distant seas, 
To subjugate an inoffensive race; 

Extort the treasures of their peaceful homes, 
With faithful pen the path of conquest trace, 

Extrolling cruel deeds in gilded tomes. 

CII 

In priestly robes, her Inquisition nursed 

The fiery zeal of bigotry and pride — 
Proscribed mankind, and judged the soul accursed 

That dare ignore the faith that she supplied. 
With arrogance usurped the throne of Heaven — 

In judgment sat to purge the world of sin — 
Assumed a power to none of mortals given. 

And racked the flesh to cleanse the soul within. 

cm 

Though feeble strength was fruitless to restrain 
A nation's crimes, sustained by moral pleas, 

Shorn of her strength and powerless is Spain, 
Condemned by Heaven's wise and just decrees. 



50 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Her illearned prestige swept from land and seas — 
Her boasted crown fast crumbling into dust — 

Her moral sense infected with disease 
From bigotry and mercenary lust. 

CIV 

From sunset skies the shadows of the past 

Are lengthening down the avenues of Time, 
As mirrored in their silent depths is cast 

Man's vain resistance to a nation's crime. 
Whose life upon his country's altar laid, 

No effort spared, no sacrifice denied — 
Whose deeds, in light of Truth and Justice weighed, 

Ey Heaven's law condemned or justified. 



cv 



WitTi generous hand are nature's bounties spread, 

And Heaven smiles on mountain, hill and plain 
'O'er paths of peace are gentle dew-drops shed, 

To stimulate the pulse of life again 
To energy and fruitful enterprise — 

To patience and enduring fortitude ; 
With wholesome laws and counsel just and wise, 

And hope revived and confidence renewed. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 51 

CVI 

To lift the mind, with kind impulse above 

Each sordid aim — each selfish, petty scheme — 
Uniting kindness, sympathy and love 

With fraternal confidence and esteem. 
Content to do the duty God assigned — 

With faith confide in His redeeming grace ; 
Assured, that in his Providence, behind 

A frowning world He hides a smiling face. 

CVH 

'Tis not by force on sanguine battle fields 

Alone that moral victories are won ; 
'Tis not to violence that Justice yields 

The meed of praise for valiant service done. 
But in the contest waged 'tween right and wrong 

On bloodless fields of reason, mind and thought; 
Where Truth has armed the weak- against the strong, 

And Justice each to righteous judgment brought. 

CVHI 

The great assize, from whence lies no appeal. 
Will bring each deed of darkness unto light, 

The false expose nor aught of Truth conceal — 
Condemn the wrong, and justify the right. 



52 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

May Southland's sons in conscious right repose- 
Neath Heaven's smile the path of life pursue, 

And venerate the memory of those 

Who fell beneath the Starry Cross of Blue. 

CIX 

When years agone have veiled each battle scene, 

And mem'ry sleeps in annals of the past. 
May loyal faith survive, still fresh and green, 

And lead her hosts to victory at last. 
May glory crown the monument of fame — 

Virtue, the bonds of kindred ties, unite — 
Honor support a pure and spotless name. 

And valor's sword and shield defend the right. 



CX 



Reposing faith in God's eternal laws ; 

Avoid the errors and the faults we see, 
That Heaven may vindicate a righteous cause, 

And crown our hopes with final victory. 
The Truth support — the sword of Justice wield — 

With honor guard impulsive heart and mind, 
And grave Deo Vindice on the shield 

Of righteousness and peace, and love for all 
mankind. 



PART II. 

SOUTH LAN D 



Esto Perpetua. 



T 



SOUTHLAND 

I 

HOU sunny Southland ! Glorious in thy fall— 
The victim of rapacious greed and spoil ; 
The gathering shades of memory recall 

The sweet delights that grace thy genial soil. 
With lavish hand indulgent nature sheds 

Her rarest gifts upon thy fertile fields — 
To all alike her richest bounty spreads — 
To honest toil abundant harvest yields. 

II 

Thy peaceful homes and sunny slopes so fair — 

Thy cooling shades, where rich magnolias bloom- 
Thy floral sweets, borne on the summer air, 

Shedding at dewy eve their rich perfume, 
Wafted abroad upon the balmy breeze 

That fans at eventide the maiden's cheek, 
The zephyr's sighs, borne from thy summer seas, 

In language all, of peace and comfort speak. 

Ill 

Thy gallant sons, to native freedom born, 
True to the instincts of their noble sires. 

Bore honor's shield, and led a hope forlorn. 
Till freedom wept beside her funeral fires. 
[55] 



56 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

True to the name their honored fathers wore — 
To freemen's rights — to home and country true, 

In swift response to duty's call, they bore 
The Starry Cross o'er fields of crimson dew. 



IV 



No perjured lips pollute thy sacred name — 

No false pretexts besmirch thy righteous cause — 
No tempting schemes of thine for power or fame 

Unsheathed thy sword to gain the world's applause 
No pen or tongue of falsehood or deceit. 

In peaceful homes infused their poisonous breath, 
Or strewed, with skillful hands, at Mercy's feet, 

The noxious seeds of agony and death. 



V 



No lavish bounties prompted earnest zeal, 

Or tempting bribes a substitute provide- 
No mercenary aims induced appeal 

To manhood's sense of patriotic pride; 
No service spared, however small or great, 

When duty called for valor to defend 
The chartered rights and honor of a State, 

On which allegiance and faith depend. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 57 

VI 

Thy fertile soil is one vast battle plain — 

Baptised in blood, on fields of valor shed ; 
Thy prayers rehearse the memory of the slain — 

Thy songs a mournful requiem for the dead. 
In blighted homes bereaved, thy daughters weep, 

When vernal showers the springs of life renew. 
And floral gifts upon each mouldering heap, 

With gentle hands and warm affection strew. 

VII 

Thy level plains— thy tall majestic hills— 

Thy mountain steeps — the lowland's marshy bed — 
Thy rivers, rivulets and rippling rills, 

Are sacred all to memories of the dead. 
The painter's pencil and the poet's pen, 

In polished lines and imagery sublime, 
Have left the names of thy illustrious men 

Engraved upon the tablatures of Time. 

VIII 

Thy heroes sleep in many a nameless grave — 

Their blood was poured where mountain daisies 
bloom. 

And tender vines, in spreading branches, wave 
In matted folds above the soldier's tomb. 



58 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

The oriole sports in the leafy grove — 

The lark, aloft, soars on his morning wing- 

The merry thrush sings in the woodland cove, 
The joyful, welcome messengers of Spring. 



IX 



When rampant war its Northern legions poured 

To crush the gallant spirit of the South, 
Thy valiant sons unheathed their trusty sword. 

And staked the issue at the cannon's mouth. 
'Mid shot and shell and gleams of belching flame — 

The glint of steel — the clash of arms — the breath 
Of panting steeds, from Southland's spirits came 

The battle cry of Victory or Death. 



X 



With gath'ring force the tide swept onward still, 

Nor did the work of dreadful carnage cease, 
Or quenched the lurid flames of war until 

A desolation made and called it Peace. 
As storm meets storm the unequal contest raged — 

Steel met with steel — blow answered with a blow- 
Heroic strength the tide of battle gauged, 

As foemen met and measured arms with foe. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 59 

XI 

On Old Dominion spotless glories shine; 

The faithful guardian of a nation's trust ; 
Who barred the doors that led to freedom's shrine, 

Against the tread that stirred her honored dust. 
From first to last her blood flowed fresh and warm, 

As war's wild desolation swept between; 
Her bosom bore the burden of the storm 

Till Appomattox closed the tragic scene. 

XII 

No hand can pluck the laurels she has won — 

No calumny blot out her history, 
While yet survives the name of Washington, 

A Jefferson, a Henry and a Lee. 
Her pioneers her infant conflicts bore — 

Her gallant sons resolved to do and dare — 
Her jurists blazed the path of legal lore — 

Her statesmanship has made us what we are. 

XIII 

In patrotic hearts her bosom nursed 

The Liberty that gave a nation birth, 
And tongues of glowing eloquence rehearsed 

The cause that blessed the cottage home and hearth. 



6o ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Upon her shores was cast the monarch's crown — 
His haughty pride — his arrogant conceit, 

When England laid her burnished armor down, 
And bowed submission at the conqueror's feet. 

XIV 

Her name endures on Time's historic page, 

As lasting as her own eternal hills, 
Despite the envious tongue of jealous rage, 

And poisonous breath that sland'rous hate distils. 
Fearless and brave her native heroes came. 

Responsive to their country's stern behest. 
And bore their honors with untarnished name, 

And laid their trophies on her wounded breast. 



XV 



A vast domain her trusted valor earned 

From foreign foes and cruel savage strife; 
When power, like the frozen viper, turned 

And stung the breast that warmed it into life. 
Her Northern daughters, nursed to statehood's prime, 

Reaping the fruits maternal kindness gave, 
With servile hands, support a nation's crime, 

And shouts of triumph dig a mother's grave. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 6l 

XVI 

What darker stain than base ingratitude? 

A sin abhorred alike by God and man ; 
No art can hide, no artifice elude — 

No grace of Heaven forgive, no other can; 
When young ambition scales the rugged steeps 

Of life, supported by maternal care, 
Forgetting all with haughty vision sweeps 

Aside the love a mother's heart would share. 

XVII 

O glorious State ! True to the land we love ; 

Thy voice proclaimed the title of the free — 
Thy soil is sacred to the memory of 

Twin patriot sons, thy Washington and Lee; 
Whose souls, inspired with patriotic zeal, 

A nation stirred as with a single breath 
Of him who closed the freeman's last appeal 

With : '' Give me Liberty, or give me death." 

XVIII 

Her cause went down ; Her battle flag was furled 
In drooping folds on the dismantled wall; 

The victors voiced their triumph to the world, 
And gloated o'er a vanquished nation's fall. 



62 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

The clam'rous voice of Northland rent the air, 
As Southland's ranks, in silence, stood aligned, 

And calmly bowed, in weakness and despair, 
Submissively to Heaven's Will resigned. 

XIX 

The sun, though sunk beyond the shades of night, 

And o'er the world his sable curtains drawn, 
The stars keep watch by his reflected light. 

And welcome his return at rising dawn ; 
Thus hope survives when honest effort fails. 

Though smould'ring in the ruins of decay. 
Until oppressive wrong the right assails, 

And scales of justice hold unequal sway. 



XX 



And so the stars, that lent their silver light, 

Reflected from the Starry Cross of Blue, 
Supporting valor in the stubborn fight, 

As fiercer still the raging conflict grew. 
May pale before the light of coming day. 

When hope revived, and freedom's sun shall rise, 
To clear the smoke of battle fields away, 

And light and truth display from brighter skies. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 63 

XXI 

Is freedom's spirit dead? Ah! say not so; 

The spirit, born of freedom, never dies; 
Like ocean tides, its currents ebb and flow. 

And on the waves of civil progress rise. 
From mould'ring heaps, where sleep the voiceless 
dead — 

From altars stained with blood of sacrifice — 
From stricken fields, where gallant heroes bled. 

And cheerless homes the voice of freedom cries. 

XXII 

Thou gentle Muse, of woman's virtues sing- 
In honor's crown unfading laurels twine; 

On wings of love immortal tribute bring, 
And gently lay at freedom's holy shrine. 

In chorus sweet, celestial voices raise; 
Thy message bear to saintly courts above; 

And consecrate with songs of prayer and praise 
The honors due to Woman's Work and Love. 

XXIII 

Alas! How frail the feeble pen that dips 
Into the crimson ink of human tears. 

To trace life's history from feeble lips. 

Gleaned from the memory of blighted years. 



64 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

To paint the sorrows of the widow's home — 
Her tears of grief, her agonies and woes ; 

Where Hghts and shadows ever go and come 
To mock the gentle quiet of repose. 

XXIV 

In peaceful homes of quietude and rest, 

Where streams of luxury incessant flow, 
With all the means of ease and comfort blest 

That Heaven's kind and bounteous hands bestow, 
How little do our spirits realize 

The scenes of hardship, painful, watchful care — 
The agonies — enduring sacrifice. 

That rankle in the bosom of despair. 

XXV 

Though innocence and woman's weakness share 

The strains that loose the silken cords of life, 
'Tis she who lifts the burden of despair. 

And impulse gives to manhood's valiant strife. 
Life's sweetest joys, and Love's most tender tie, 

Domestic peace that bless the home and hearth, 
On woman's sacrificial altars lie, 

To feed the flames that nourish freedom's birth. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 65 

XXVI 

Tis she who bears the agonies that steal 

With leaden weight upon the stricken home — 
The poignant stings her heart alone can feel 

In transient hopes that daily go and come. 
The doubts and fears that hang in grave suspense — 

The anxious care — the patient fortitude — 
The pleading cry of helpless innocence, 

And banishment in hopeless solitude. 

XXVII 

Whose solace rests in earnest, fervent prayer 

To God, the widow and the orphan's friend, 
Through days of toil and nights of sleepless care, 

And faith on which her sanguine hopes depend. 
With feeble arm she spurns the hand of power. 

Invoking strength and succor from above, 
Wliile, like the dew-drop on the faded flower, 

Despair sits trembling on the lips of Love. 

XXVIII 

Alike do innocence and weakness bear 
The burdens that the arts of war impose. 

And quiet homes of peace and comfort share 
Its cruelties, its asronies and woes. 



66 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

The serpent drags its sinuous length along — 
Invades the home of quietude and rest — 

With poisonous breath assails the weak and strong, 
Coiled 'neath the pillow love and hope had pressed. 

XXIX 

Inspired with zeal, frail woman's spirit rose 

To meet the stern necessity that gave, 
On battle fields, impulse anew to those 

Who bore their arms to glory and the grave. 
With instinct, born of patriotic pride. 

She loosed the cords of Love's most tender ties ; 
Nor on the altar of her faith denied 

The stern demands of freedom's sacrifice. 

XXX 

The mother, fired with patriotic zeal, 

With dark forebodings, viewed the sanguine field ; 
Despite the love that she alone can feel. 

Commands her son to bear his Spartan shield; 
And, living, bear it home to her again. 

Or lifeless, on its battered surface borne ; 
In life or death without a blot or stain. 

Or leaf or line from honor's record torn. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 67 

XXXI 

No sacrifice, however great or small, 

Of ease or comfort, luxury or pride — 
Of home or love, upon her country's call, 

Is on the altar of her faith denied. 
She gives her all — her sole surviving son, 

To swell the record of heroic names ; 
And with prayer to Heav'n, Thy Will be done, 

Commends his soul to God and thus exclaims : 



Yes, go, my dear son, 'tis thy country demands 
In defence of thy birthright, in Liberty's name, 

A sacrifice now at a fond mother's hand. 

Where honor may bask in the sunlight of fame. 



Her perils go share on the land and the seas. 
In battle's fierce surge and the tempest of war, 

Where thunders awakened are borne on the breeze, 
And the tread of invasion is heard from afar. 

3 

In the shock of collision what bosom can feel 
The ceaseless anxiety, as nightly appears 

The phantoms of hope that reluctantly steal 

Above the lone pillow that's moistened with tears? 



68 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

4 
Yes, go, my dear son, 'tis thy country that calls 

The valiant to arms, and summons thee hence, 
Where glory will honor the hero who falls. 

While facing her foe in her gallant defence. 

5 
Though feeble my efiforts, yet freely I give 

To freedom and country of loved ones the last; 
Though doomed to misfortune and poverty live 

A comfortless wreck on the shoals of the past. 



Thy forefathers suffered and struggled in vain 
To transmit the freedom their valor had bought, 

If we, in our weakness, refuse to sustain 

The blessings their wisdom and virtue had wrought. 

7 
Though the birthright of freemen be lost to the world, 

Let glory and valor its virtues declare; 
And honor survive when thy banners are furled, 

In the day of success, or the night of despair. 

8 

Though strong is maternal affection, my son. 
And comfort that filial devotion inspires. 

Yet love for my country is second to none 
Whatever the sacrifice duty requires. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 69 

9 

Remember whatever the future recalls, 

'Tis sweet consolation and comfort to know, 

That glory will honor the hero who falls. 

His face to his God, and his feet to the foe, 

10 

When the battle is over, and nature has spread 
Her mantle of darkness o'er mountain and plain, 

One spirit will visit the dying and dead, 
To gaze on the face of her loved one again. 

II 

The foeman may boast of his power and might. 
Remember, the battle is not to the strong ; 

'Tis better to die in defence of the right. 

Than tamely submit to injustice and wrong. 

12 

Although you may fall, and the unpolished stone 
No record may bear of thy country or name ; 

The dust of the hero speaks louder alone 

Than monuments stained with dishonor and shame. 

13 
To Heaven my soul will unceasingly pray, 

To strengthen thine arm in defence of the right ; 
That honor stand guard o'er thy conduct by day. 

And virtue watch over thy slumbers at night. 



70 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

14 
May God, in His mercy, thine efforts sustain, 

Directed and guided by strength from above; 
And bring thee back home to thy mother again, 

To rest in the bosom of freedom and love. 

15 
If Heaven ordains it to spare thee, my son, 

Whatever the issue, remember 'tis sweet 
To know that thy duty was faithfully done. 

In the transports of triumph or gloom of defeat. 

16 

Be brave and be fearless, be loyal and true 

In the cause of thy country w^herever you be — 

The standard of freedom keep ever in view — 
The guidon of faith, and the hope of the free. 

17 
Thy country is calling, she cannot delay — 

The tocsin is pealing from turret and dome — 
Thy comrades are marching in battle array — 

Speed — speed to the rescue of country and home. 

XXXII 

Clad in her weeds, the widow calmly broods 
In silence on the memory of the past; 

And, in the depths of life's drear solitudes, 
On once a happy home her mind is cast. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 71 

Where sweet contentment, peace and plenty smiled; 

And life replete with blessings from above, 
She clasped, with fond embrace, her infant child. 

And shared the bounties of a husband's love. 

XXXIII 

The smile has faded from the damask cheek ; 

A blight has crossed the garden of the heart ; 
Sad memories, in painful language, speak. 

And cheerful words no sense of joy impart. 
Her tears are not the tears of vain regret; 

Confiding in her treasured hopes above. 
She kneels before her country's altars yet. 

Invoking peace restored to life and love. 

XXXIV 

For he, to whom, in early life, she gave 

Her plighted faith, her heart, her love, her all, 
Now fills, on yonder field, a soldier's grave. 

With not a line or trace to note his fall; 
Beside his fallen comrades, rudely thrown 

Beneath the sodden turf in careless heaps, 
With not a mark to friends or kindred known, 

Her gilded hope of peace and comfort sleeps. 



72 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



XXXV 

Her heart, bereft of all that life endears, 

Of hope, of peace, of dearest earthly ties, 
No refuge finds but in a widow's tears — 

No kind relief save in a widow's sighs. 
Dread darkness sleeps upon the lap of day — 

Inspiring hope has fled beyond recall — 
December treads upon the path of May, 

As conquered peace displays her country's fall. 

XXXVI 

Life's strongest cords are severed in the strain, 

When duty called to sanguine fields afar, 
Young manhood's strength, her country's cause 
sustain 

Against the cruel ravages of war. 
Alas ! What charm in life can ever fill, 

Or lull to rest the aching void within? 
What soothing balm the restless spirit still, 

Or cheerful voice a smile of comfort win? 

XXXVII 

At blush of morn — at dusk of dewy eve 
Perpetual fires upon love's altars burn, 

W^hile flattering hopes but whisper to deceive 
In fitful dreams, her loved ones safe return ; 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 73 

And, bending o'er her little ones at rest, 
Confiding each to Heaven's watchful care. 

With earnest, calm solicitude oppressed, 
She breathes at eventide her fervent prayer. 

XXXVIII 

Though dust and ashes fill the soldier's grave 

In prison camp — on glorious battle grounds, 
And far abroad, where Erie's waters lave 

The sea-girt shore that marks their prison bounds, 
Their spirits live, enshrined in woman's breast ; 

Encircled by the halo of her love ; 
Whose brave heroic fortitude impressed 

On sterner hearts her faith in Heaven above. 

XXXIX 

Their deeds in life were blest with woman's smile — 

In death their graves bedewed with woman's tears ; 
Her hand uprears the monumental pile; 

Her love survives the wreck of fleeting years. 
Her soul, with patient fortitude, endured 

The sacrifice the scourge of war entailed; 
And spared no aid her feeble strength secured, 

Nor yielded when heroic efforts failed. 



74 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

XL 

Thus woman bore the burden of the storm — 

Its flood of tears — its agonies and woes ; 
Whose kindred blood, in crimson currents warm, 

Mingled alike with that of friends and foes. 
Her ministrations nursed, with ceaseless care, 

The wounded back to health and strength again- 
The dying soothed with earnest, fervent prayer, 

And cleansed the fleeting soul of battle stain. 

XLI 

'Twas she who urged the dauntless spirit on. 

And cheered the path of glory and renown; 
Revived the spark from fires of weakness drawn, 

And for the Cross adjusts the soldier's Crown. 
She gave impulse to patriotic zeal, 

And sacrificed, for home and country, all 
That filial and maternal love can feel. 

In freedom's cause and urgent duty's call. 

XLII 

On battle fields her heart sustained the loss 
Entailed upon her home and scanty board; 

With patient fortitude she bore her Cross, 
And hope revived, and confidence restored. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Till Southland's starlit banner ceased to wave, 
Or thunders voiced their echoes from afar, 

Her all, in cheerful self-denial, gave 
To meet the stern necessities of war. 

XLIII 

No perils of adversity subdued. 

Or pains of self-denial rose above 
The strength sublime of woman's fortitude, 

And majesty Divine of woman's love. 
From cheerless homes the fumes of incense rise — 

From vacant hearths her pious prayers ascend 
From offerings in holy sacrifice 

To God, the widow and the orphan's friend. 

XLIV 

When genial suns the clouds of war disperse. 

And age the smould'ring fires of youth revives. 
Fond mothers may, with falt'ring tongues rehearse 

From memory's page the story of their lives. 
Impress upon the plastic mind of youth 

Heroic deeds that blazed the path of fame ; 
And sow the seeds of virtue, love and truth. 

That grow to vindicate a father's name. 



75 



76 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

XLV 

Their spirits, too, will soon have passed away. 

And o'er their graves the deep'ning shadows cast. 
Beyond the fleeting visions of to-day, 

In fading lines, the memories of the past. 
May gratitude revive the vital flame 

That long on woman's sacred altars burned ; 
Perpetuate upon the scroll of fame 

The meed of praise heroic virtues earned. 

XLVI 

And Southland's faithful sons and daughters give 

The honors due to woman's sacrifice ; 
That virtues pure in grateful mem'ries live, 

And glories beam undimmed from yonder skies ; 
And loyal hearts, with sense of duty, yearn 

To crystalize in monumental stone 
The Love and Faith that sleep in memory's urn, 

And o'er the path of Christian virtue shone. 

XLVII 

A monument to woman's merit raise 

As pure and chaste as was the life she led ; 

And kindred hearts in honor chant her praise, 
And o'er her dust sweet floral mantles spread. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE yy 

And let her virtues stand of record here — 

Her honors rest in majesty divine — 
Her faith and holy trust in God appear — 

Her Love supreme on memory's tablet shine. 

XLvni 

May Southland's sons and daughters emulate 

The virtues born of patriotic sires; 
And each, with holy rev'rence, venerate 

The ardent zeal that woman's faith inspires. 
A Faith that reached beyond the wrecks of Time — 

A hope that lifts the burden of despair — 
A fortitude heroic and sublime — 

A Patience borne in humble, fervent prayer. 

XLIX 

A Love that burns with animated glow 

In faithful hearts, devoted, warm and true — 
A sympathy that felt another's woe, 

Whose gentle touch the springs of life renew. 
Historic land ! Thy sun will never set, 

Or clouds obscure the memories of the past 
While woman kneels before thine altars yet, 

And o'er thy fields the germs of freedom cast. 



78 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Nor glory fade beneath thy sunny skies, 

While memory bears the faith and honors due 

To offerings of woman's sacrifice 

That sanctified the Starry Cross of Blue. 



As faithful sentinels thy daughters guard 

Thy name with Argus eyes that never sleep ; 
That Truth and Honor reap their just reward, 

Where falsehood lurks and sinuous serpents creep. 
Their watch-fires burn in every Southern home ; 

A light to guide aright aspiring youth ; 
Resolved no poisonous breath shall ever come 

To taint the wholesome atmosphere of Truth. 



LI 



To guard historic truth with jealous care — 

To nurse the germs by patriot kinsman sown- 
Perpetuate the deeds their memories bear, 

Immortalized in monumental stone. 
Nursed in the lap of patriotic zeal, 

Their hearts in molds of public virtue cast. 
Resolve no mask or crafty art conceal 

The truth that shrouds the glory of the past. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 79 

LII 

Thou faithful daughters of an honored race, 

In freedom's cause, with loyal hearts sincere, 
Thy gentle hands, in graphic lines, retrace 

The steps that mark thy country's proud career ; 
The glories shed upon the battle plain — 

The blood that flowed upon the sodden field, 
Where foemen each the stubborn strife maintain. 

And courage loth the meed of triumph yield. 

LIII 

With pride revere the memory of the dead — 

In prayer kneel beside the mossy grave ; 
And o'er each tomb thy floral mantles spread, 

Where violets bloom, and weeping willows wave. 
Thy diligence preserves in sacred tomes 

A truthful story of thy country's wrongs — 
Her desert fields — her charred and ruined homes. 

Her daring deeds and patriotic songs. 

LIV 

Beneath thy watchful care, in virtue's mold. 

The plastic mind of infancy receives 
The first impress that sacred memory holds, 

Of matchless fame heroic strength achieves. 



8o ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Of scenes rehearsed that thrill the mother's breast- 
The cruel wrongs her stricken soul endured — 

The ghastly cheek the lips of love had pressed — 
Despairing hearts in prison cells immured. 



LV 



In shallow graves unknown thy fathers sleep, 

On glory's field the youthful brother lies — 
In solitude thy widowed mothers weep, 

Without relief save in a widow's sighs. 
At eventide thy fervent prayers ascend 

From homes begirt with innocence and love ; 
To God, the vddow and the orphan's friend. 

For peace on earth, and blessings from above. 

LVI 

United in thy just and virtuous cause, 

.Heart speak to heart, and soul responds to soul, 
As closer still the line of duty draws 

Each vet'ran's name inscribed on honor's roll. 
Embalmed with love upon the scroll of fame, 

Thy badge of honor dights the soldier's breast — 
Thy records bear, unstained, the soldier's name — 

Thy spirits guard in peace the soldier's rest. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 8l 

LVII 

Thy Starry Cross, that rests on manly hearts — 

Symbol of woman's love and widow's tears, 
Again new life and energy imparts, 

And solace gives to life's declining years. 
The sacred Cross the faithful Simon bore — 

The Cross on which the Prince of Glory died — 
The Holy badge the flower of knighthood wore, 

And Christian faith heroic strength supplied. 

LVIII 

Though age bears down upon the stream of Time 

To launch our bark upon an unknown sea. 
Yet, in our wake, young manhood's vig'rous prime, 

From lessons taught beside the mother's knee. 
Will bear the honors woman's hand conferred. 

On those whose lives survived their country's fall — 
Whose val'rous deeds the heart of nations stirred. 

And won a niche reserved in memory's wall. 



LIX 



When years have veiled from sight each battle scene, 
May Southern homes with freedom's chorus ring, 

And Love still weave her laurels fresh and green, 
And 'neath the Starry Cross of Honor sing : 



.82 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



CROSS OF HONOR— Yes confer it- 
Price of valor bravely won — 
Woman's gift — reward of merit — 
Badge of honor — keep it — wear it — 

Sacred gift from sire to son. 
Emblem of man's strong protection — 
Woman's faith and kind affection — 
Loyalty to home and section — 
Duty nobly, bravely done. 



Borne from fields by thunders riven, 
Dusky mountain, hill and plain — 
Badge for matchless valor given — 
Sacred in the sight of Heaven — 

Sacred to the gallant slain. 
May each manly bosom bear it — 
Proudly, nobly, bravely wear it — 
Hearts, with trusted honor, spare it 
From reproach and guilty stain. 



Sacred to the love we nourished- 
Sacred to the land we love. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 83 

Wear it for the lives that perished 
Bravely for the cause they cherished, 

Trusting in the Powers above, 
Arms of Truth and Justice lend us — 
Succor, vindicate, defend us — 
In the lap of peace befriend us 

As His righteous laws approve. 



Gallant spirits gone before us. 

Fallen in their manhood's prime, 
Softly, sweetly bending o'er us. 
Mingle voices with the chorus 

Borne upon the vesper chime. 
Eyes, though dim and locks are hoary, 
Emblems of a nation's glory. 
Live and bloom in song and story, 
Fresh upon the shores of Time. 



Kindred hearts in love united — 

Souls that win the world's applause, 
Homes bereft, love unrequited, 
All save hope and honor blighted 
'Neath the touch of cruder laws. 



84 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Wear the Cross of Honor brothers, 
Gift of gentle hands of others, 
Daughters, sisters, wives and mothers, 
Listed in one common cause. 



CROSS OF HONOR— mersed in slaughter- 
Born in battle's smoke and flame — 

Nursed on fields of crimson waters, 

Tears of widows, wives and daughters — 
Fields of monumental fame ; 

Let each sacred badge remind us 

Of the kindred ties that bind us. 

And, with honor, leave behind us 
Records of a spotless name. 



LX 



Thus woman's faith lends hope that never dies, 
And falters not when love and duty claim 

Her gentle aid and strength to crystalize 

In shafts of stone the gallant soldier's name. 

And plead his country's cause before impartial eyes. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 85 

LXI 

May woman's love survive the wrecks of Time — 

Her virtues live to guard a spotless name — 
Her fortitude, heroic and sublime, 

In graphic lines adorn the scroll of fame. 
May lips unstained her painful story tell — 

Posterity accord the honors due 
To her who gave the lives of those who fell 

Defending Southland's Starry Cross of Blue. 

LXH 

INIay justice vindicate her country's cause — 

Historic Truth her val'rous deeds recall — 
Heroic effort earn the world's applause, 

As o'er each scene life's twilight shadows fall. . 
May honor crown the virtue love bestows ; 

And o'er the grave the light of glory shed, 
And Heaven bless the faithful lives of those 

Who guard the silent Cities of the Dead. 

LXHI 

Ere fleeting years their faithful hearts have stilled — 
Their Love and Christian virtue stored above. 

May Southland's sons in grateful mem'ry build 
A monument to Wonian's work and Love. 



86 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

To freedom's cause her virtues consecrate ; 

From altars pure the fumes of incense rise ; 
And Southern hearts, with pride, commemorate 

The courasfe born of woman's sacrifice. 



'£3' 



LXIV 

The Dead — The Dead — Dear Sunny vSouthland's 
Dead! 

Their bones he strew^n on mountain, hill and plain ; 
Where summer skies their pearly dew-drops shed, 

And nature's smile and peaceful quiet reign. 
Far in the depths of forest solitude — 

In flow'ry vale — on rugged mountain steep — 
On fields of fame, with crimson stain bedewed, 

In silent graves our patriot fathers sleep. 

LXV 

When golden sunset skies grow pale and dim. 

As sentinels, who guard a nation's trust. 
The feathered songsters chant their vesper hymn, 

And creeping vines steal o'er their honored dust. 
O'er peaceful graves the light of Heaven smiles. 

And stars keep watch above, each sacred mound. 
On desert fields — neath stately granite piles, 

Ahke as Holy consecrated ground. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 8/ 

LXVI 

Long ere the pen of history began, 

In lettered Hnes to trace achievements won. 
Or crystahzed the val'rous deeds of man, 

And merits due to vahant service done. 
In hieroglyphs, inscribed on musty wall, 

And cryptic vaults neath heaps of massive stone. 
Beyond the shade of centuries, recall 

The pomp and pride that graced a monarch's throne. 

LXVII 

We reap the fruits of honest, faithful toil. 

Days of danger — nights of watchful care, 
Of those who shed their blood on freedom's soil — 

Gave all they had, and made us all we are. 
Then why ignore the memory of the dead. 

Nor tribute pay in merited applause, 
For val'rous deeds of those who freely bled 

In self defence and freedom's righteous cause? 

LXVIII 

Or why the fires of freedom's sacrifice 
Upon her sacred altars cease to burn ; 

Or Heavenward still the smoke of incense rise 
For those whose ashes sleep in memory's urn? 



88 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Removed beyond the tide of human tears, 
Though dead to us, their noble spirits Uve; 

For us they gave up all that life endears — 

Their strength, their lives, 'twas all they had to give. 

LXIX 

Must we, through base ingratitude, forget 

The meed of praise to Truth and Honor due? 
With callous hearts, ignore the sacred debt 

We justly owe the brave and gallant few 
Who yet survive the wrecks of Time and age, 

Whose lives were offered in their country's name — 
Whose deeds are borne on life's historic page — 

Whose valor strove to monumental fame? 

LXX 

Is honor lost — the star of glory set 

On crimson fields where gallant heroes died. 
And fearless hearts, in stately column, met — 

A nation's strong defence — a country's pride? 
Have deeds of valor faded from the view, 

Amidst corroding cares of busy life. 
Or stars grown dim upon the Cross of Blue 

That led the brave through storms of deadly strife? 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 89 

LXXI 

Shall glory fade, like some forgotten dream — 

Oblivion its sombre shadows cast? 
Shall waters drank from Lethe's fabled stream, 

Obscure for aye the mem'ries of the past? 
A heap of earth is all that now remains 

Of spirits freed from elemental clay; 
In death's cold sleep, where solemn stillness reigns, 

The hallowed dust of fallen comrades lay. 

LXXII 

From Northern lakes to Southern sunlit seas, 

In nameless graves, the gallant dead repose ; 
The northwind's breath, and Southland's balmy breeze, 

Alike sweep o'er the dust of friends and foes. 
Like him who dwelt on Saint Helena's isle. 

An exile cast upon a hostile shore, 
Their chafing spirits sought the genial smile 

That blest the land their eyes beheld no more. 

LXXIII 

Ah no ! Let mem'ry weave her chaplets here — 
In kindred hearts their deeds of valor keep ; 

Let love bestow a sympathetic tear, 

And honor guard in peace their quiet sleep. 



90 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Each sacred mound, where modest lilies bloom, 
Recalls to mind some dear beloved one. 

Whose ashes sleep in some neglected tomb, 
Neath forest shades or summer's sultry sun. 

LXXIV 

Freedom's illustrious dead! Forget them? No 

Their fame will live on every tongue and age; 
The flight of centuries may come and go. 

And leave their glory still on memory's page. 
Strike off their names from history? As well 

Might Poland's mem'ry perish in her fall, 
And Switzerland ignore the name of Tell, 

And Greece no more her glorious past recall. 

LXXV 

Immortalized upon the scroll of fame, 

And crystalized in monumental stone. 
Historic Truth perpetuates the name 

Of those on whom a nation's glory shone. 
Though bigotry and persecution ride 

In triumph o'er the red embattled plains — 
And crucial test of fire and sword applied, 

The light of God's eternal Truth remains. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 91 

LXXVI 

Their cause went down, yet glory in defeat, 

Within the hearts of freemen still survives; 
And unborn generations will repeat, 

In ages hence, the story of their lives. 
Gray Marathon — illustrious in repose, 

Whence Athens feeble inspiration draws. 
On pillared mounds preserved the names of those 

Who sacrificed their lives to freedom's cause. 

LXXVII 

Brave comrades, sleep in peace; The sulphurous 
breath 

Of cruel war sweeps over thee in vain; 
No cannon's roar, no agonies of death 

Can wake thy soul to val'rous deeds again. 
Though sland'rous tongues thy chivalry upbraid. 

Historic Truth the patriot's praises hymn. 
The blighting touch of Time will never fade 

His laurels, or his stars of glory dim. 

LXXVHI 

Brave heroes, sleep, and peaceful be thy rest — 
Thy stalwart arms have lain their armor down — 

The turf grows green above thy tranquil breast, 
Neath grateful shades of honor and renown. 



92 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Thy strife is o'er ; Now fair and gentle hands 
Fresh flowers strew above thy sacred dust ; 

Where ever green the drooping cypress stands — 
Undying emblem of a nation's trust. 

LXXIX 

Beside thy tomb the weeping willows wave 

Their slender boughs in many a graceful fold, 
As mourning sentinels above the grave, 

Receiving strength and vigor from thy mold. 
Across thy narrow bed the myrtle creeps, 

And weaves its woof with threads of living green- 
Tween parted leaves the modest flow'ret peeps — 

O'er velvet lawn the shifting shadows lean. 

LXXX 

The warbling songsters trill their merry notes 

From leafy branches bending overhead — 
On dewy wings the breath of evening floats 

In silence o'er the City of the Dead. 
Responsive to the genial warmth of Spring, 

From floral beds sweet perfumed ordors rise — 
Each rosy morn their fragrant treasures bring, 

Refreshed by dews distilled from starlit skies. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 93 

LXXXI 

Thou art not dead ; The Hfe thou freely gave 

Thy country in its sorest hour of need 
Has borne its fuits — freedom beyond the grave — 

From mortal care and earth's commotion freed. 
Thy stalwart arm lies palsied in the dust — 

Thy head lies pillowed on its lowly bed — 
Thy manhood's strength has yielded up its trust, 

But while thy spirit lives, thou art not dead. 

LXXXII 

Thy spirit lives in memory's sacred urn — 

Dwells in the heart of every Southern breast — 
Keeps guard wherever freedom's watchfires burn, 

On tented field or bivouac's quiet rest. 
It lives in sacred annals of the past — 

Illuminates the patriot's home and hearth — 
Revives the hopes that honest effort cast 

On glorious battle fields since freedom's birth. 

LXXXIII 

From Vera Cruz to Montezuma's halls — 

On mountain steeps, whose summits pierce the 
skies — 
At Monterey — neath El Molino's walls, 
In honored dust the Southern soldier lies. 



94 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



In Northern wilcls — in Southern everglades, 
They fought and fell before a savage foe ; 

In open fields, in depths of forest shades. 
To duty's call, their heads lie pillowed low. 

LXXXIV 

In Northern lakes, in Southern sunlit seas — 

'Neath ocean waves — in caverns of the deep, 
Where freedom's flag was borne upon the breeze, 

The lifeless forms of Southern heroes sleep. 
From rude and shallow graves, their bleaching bones 

Lie scattered o'er a thousand battle fields, 
Where war's stern voice gave back in dying groans 

The sacrifice the gallant spirit yields. 

LXXXV 

Whose names unknown to history or fame, 

Beyond the shades of memory recall 
But glimmering sparks to light the vital flame 

On altars where dim twilight shadows fall. 
In hidden vaults, neglected and obscure, 

On musty rolls alone their record lies ; 
No cenotaphs, in lettered stone, secure 

Their humble names to freedom's sacrifice. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 95 

LXXXVI 

No blazing heraldry to animate 

The spirit born to freedom's holy cause ; 
No titled rank their pride to stimulate 

To daring deeds to reap the world's applause ; 
No selfish ends or mercenary aims 

To light the soul with patriotic fire, 
Whose blood was shed to quench the lurid flames 

That leaped above their country's funeral pyre. 

LXXXVII 

He who, from sense of duty, is inspired 

With faith and confidence in human skill, 
Whose soul with patriotic motives fired, 

Submits to execute another's will, 
And freely gives his life to duty's call, 

And dangers braved with firm and steady hand, 
Deserves an humble niche in memory's wall 

With those whose rank and title gave command. 

LXXXVIII 

From Marathon to Saratoga's plain, 

The bridge of ages spans the crimson tide, 

That ebbed and flowed, as empires strove in vain 
To quench the spark that menaced sovereign pride. 



96 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

On passion's sea the currents rise and fall — 

O'er rocks and shoals the foaming waters pour — 

The restless spirit, swift to freedom's call, 
Eludes the grasp to gain the welcome shore. 

LXXXIX 

May Southland pay due honors to her dead, 

Who bore no rank or title to a name ; 
Whose gallant deeds the light of glory shed, 

And won their place upon the scroll of fame. 
Whose dauntless courage braved the storms of death — 

Whose life-blood flowed upon the sodden field — 
Whose dying gasp inhaled the sulphurous breath, 

And nerveless hand still grasped his Spartan shield. 

XC 

Whose valor strove to wear the victor's crown, 

Neath colors borne o'er seas of belching flame ; 
Nor yielded till the Starry Cross went down, 

Or death effaced the record of his name. 
Whose faith a patriotic zeal inspired — 

Whose courage bore the strength of manhood's 
prime — 
Whose patient hope and fortitude required 

A sacrifice, heroic and sublime. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 97 

XCI 

From ghastly wounds life's crimson current flows — 

The glaze of death spreads o'er the sightless eyes; 
No faded lines their humble names disclose, 

Who gave their lives to freedom's sacrifice. 
Yet far abroad, midst shouts of victory, 

Maternal hearts in mental anguish burn ; 
As lisping ones, beside the mother's knee. 

Invoke in prayer their loved ones safe return. 

XCII 

The battle field, on whose historic ground 

Remorseless Time has left no visual trace 
Of heaving turf — no lettered name is found 

To mark the private soldier's resting place. 
No titled honors mark his shallow grave — 

In hearts bereaved alone his virtues live; 
No page adorns the life of him who gave 

To home and country all he had to give. 

XCIII 

To mem'ry lost — to tongue of fame unknown, 
Who sealed his faith in consciousness of right, 

With those whose blood was mingled with his own. 
And arms sustained the burden of the fight. 



98 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Twas h-is, midst leaden hail and stifling breath, 
In steady ranks and stately columns, meet 

With courage rare, the messengers of death. 
And share the fruits of victory or defeat. 

XCIV 

O'er field and camp the length'ning shadows fall ; 

And friendly stars their nightly vigils keep; 
While memory, in fitful dreams, recall 

The battle scenes where fallen heroes sleep. 
With jealous pride, the herald's voice proclaims 

The glorious deeds by gallant chieftains done; 
Just honors paid, yet why ignore the names 

Of those whose arms their bright achievements 
won? 

XCV 

Brave soldiers, rest in peace ; Thy country may, 

In gratitude for faithful service done. 
Thy glorious deeds of valor yet display. 

And grant the meed of praise thy courage won. 
And mark thy resting place, lest we forget. 

As Time obscures the fallen soldier's bed, 
The names that live in cherished mem'ry yet, 

And honors due to sunny Southland's dead. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 99 

XCVI 

Gray monuments adorn the battle field, 

Memorials of gallant service done ; 
When battling hosts in deadly conflict sealed 

In blood their faith, and fadeless laurels won; 
Yet far beyond the visions of to-day. 

When virtues rare the bonds of faith renew, 
Posterity, with grateful hearts, will pay 

Honors to him to whom are honors due. 

XCVII 

Aye soldiers, rest, neglected and alone. 

Heedless alike to care and mortal strife, 
In shallow graves unlettered and unknown, 

Oblivious alike to love and life, 
What though no tears bedew thy lonely grave — 

No gentle hands their floral mantles spread — 
No evergreens or weeping willows wave 

Their branches o'er thy solitary bed ; 

XCVIII 

Thy monuments are thy eternal hills 

That heave their crests above thy battle grounds ; 
And flow'ry meads where dewy night distils 

Its crystal tears o'er graves and grassy mounds. 



100 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Kind nature smiles where slumber Southland's dead ; 

Neath forest shades the mountain daisies bloom ; 
The creeping vine yields to the stranger's tread, 

And wild flowers nod above the soldier's tomb. 

XCIX 

On dewy wings the breath of evening floats 

Upon the deep'ning shadows of the night ; 
The forest songsters trill their merry notes 

From leafy boughs to greet the morning light. 
With genial warmth, the messengers of Spring, 

As ministers of Holy Love and Trust, 
From nature's fields their annual tribute bring 

To bud and bloom above the soldier's dust. 



What though their bones lie bleaching on the plain. 

By mountain ghouls from shallow graves exhumed 
And wrecks of frail mortality remain 

On honor's field, uncoffined and untombed ; 
Their spirits still keep watch and ward above 

The slumb'ring dust and ashes of decay ; 
Where constant fires of patriotic love 

Yet brighter glows with each returning day. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE lOI 

CI 

On Sunny Southland's wounded bosom lies 

The fertile soil whence germs of greatness spring, 
To life from blood of holy sacrifice, 

And fervent prayers in freedom's offering. 
In humble homes her sacred altars stand ; 

Memorials adorn the sanguine plain. 
While nature strews, with kind and gen'rous hand, 

The seeds that grow to wealth and power again. 

CII 

Within her breast the sense of honor dwells ; 

O'er virtue's cheek is spread no blush of shame; 
On scented breeze her choral minstrels swell 

Their notes in praise of her illustrious name ; 
Her virtues live in noble manhood's pride — 

Her fortitude in lovely woman's smile — 
Her valor flows upon the crimson tide — 

Her heroes sleep beneath their funeral pile. 

cm 

Her faith abides in sacred Truth Divine— 
Her strength of arm in manhood's chivalry — 

Her skies with brilliant constellations shine, 

Their sun and central star, f/;e brave and gal- 
lant LBE. 



PART in. 

AFTERMATH 



Veritas prevalebit. 



AFTERMATH. 

I 

THOU Heavenly Muse, indulgence yet prolong 
Inspire the soul with music from above ; 
And tune the heart to one harmonious song 

Of unity, and warm fraternal love. 
With motives pure — with counsel just and wise, 

To build anew a nation strong and great 
From ashes gleaned of holy sacrifice. 
And vindicate the honor of a State. 



H 



Though conquered peace, and quiet of repose. 

Are borne on victory's triumphant car. 
Deep sorrow broods upon the heart of those 

Who reap, in tears, the Aftermath of war ; 
Who gather fruits of bitterness and woe 

From sterile field and desolated home ; 
Where spectral shapes of famine come and go, 

And selfish fiends of greed and passion roam. 



HI 



Indulgent Hope ! The food of anxious care — 
We hail, with wistful eyes, thy feeble light. 

Emerging from the darkness of despair, 

As dawn of Peace grows deeper on the sight. 
[ 105 ] 



I06 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Though through descending torrents, fresh and warm, 
The Hghtning still, in fitful glances play, 

The bow of promise spans the sunlit storm, 
And distant thunders faintly die away. 



IV 



Just God, in mercy, veils from mortal eyes 

His hidden paths — His Providence display, 
Whose just demands of blood and sacrifice 

Reach far beyond the visions of to-day. 
The arch, that spanned the yawning gulf of years 

From Abram's sacrifice to Calvary, 
Bore Faith and Hope beyond the tide of tears. 

And blessings promised through eternity. 



V 



The gentle dove now bears, on tireless wing. 

O'er wasted fields, the olive branch of Peace; 
And faithful messengers swift tidings bring 

That strife is o'er and blood and carnage cease. 
From battle fields the smoke has cleared away — 

Immersed in tears are Southland's banners furled- 
Aside the war-worn vet'ran's armor lay. 

And Peace proclaims her message to the world. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 107 

VI 

No threat'ning clouds hang o'er Virginia's hills 

From feeble light of camp-fires burning low, 
As nature through the shades of night distils 

Her gentle dews alike on friend and foe. 
No sentinel, upon his lonely beat, 

With measured pace, resumes his weary tread; 
No trumpet voice of victory or defeat 

Is floating o'er the dying and the dead. 

VII 

O'er friend and foe from field and forest floats 

On morning breeze to daily duty's call — 
No roll of drum — no bugle's martial notes, 

On slumb'ring hosts, in stirring echos fall. 
Dead stillness reigns o'er vale and mountain steeps — 

A painful silence hangs on breathless air; 
Deep solitude, in peaceful quiet, sleeps, 

And glory guards the spirits resting there. 

VIII 

Yet Home — Sweet Home, invites no peaceful rest, 
Where vengeance strides above a nation's tomb ; 

And miscreants still pierce the wounded breast, 
And famished fiends the tempting feast resume. 



I08 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

When dusky slave, with phantom hopes beguiled, 
The brutal standard of oppression rears, 

Ambition sat upon her throne and smiled, 
And power rode upon the flood of tears. 



IX 



Despair looks out upon the setting sun — 
Dark shadows fall upon the lonely path ; 

And leaves reward, for duty nobly done. 
To feed upon the fruits of Aftermath ; 

To bow submission to a servile race- 
Accept the terms of infamy and shame, 

That puts to blush the annals of disgrace, 
And leaves a blot upon the scroll of fame. 



X 



While ruin marks the desolated home, 

Lean famine leers upon the scanty board, 
And hideous forms of death and terror roam, 

With all the means the schemes of power afford. 
Bereft of all, the widowed mother weeps ; 

In pleading tones the helpless orphan cries ; 
On yonder field the faithful husband sleeps ; 

In honors grave the son and brother lies. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 109 

XI 

Memorials o'er dust and ashes rise 

In vain attempts to prop a tyrant's throne; 
And falsehood strives a name immortalize 

In cryptic vaults and heaps of massive stone. 
How often these mute witnesses recall 

The weakness of a monumental age; 
When Justice weighs the merits due to all, 

In Truth revealed on Time's historic page. 

XII 

Some deeds of men the world cannot forget; 

Some good — some ill, all lessons of the past ; 
That dwell upon the path of mem'ry yet, 

And o'er -the world their lights and shadows cast ; 
Sweet'ning the cup we lift to thirsting lips, 

From which life's joys in peaceful currents flow; 
Or flavoring the tempting draught that drips 

From poisonous dregs of bitterness and woe. 

XIII 

Engraved upon the world's historic chart, 
With skillful art, are true and false arrayed, 

And vaunted deeds that swayed the mind and heart 
For weal or woe in graphic lines displayed. 



no ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Unrighteous zeal and bigotry adorn 

The path of fame with monuments of crime; 

Memorials of pride and passion born, 

And wrecks bestrewn upon the shores of Time. 

XIV 

He who would strive for monumental fame, 

And endless praise for val'rous deeds secure, 
Must purge his soul of sordid selfish aim. 

And act from motives honest, just and pure. 
A virtuous life admits of no alloy. 

Nor righteousness on wrongful acts depend. 
Or Christian Love and Charity employ 

Ignoble means to justify an end. 



XV 



Historic truth disdains to canonize, 

In saintly garb, the scourge of humankind, 
Who looks beyond to grasp ambition's prize. 

And leaves his path a desert waste behind ; 
Who vainly strives, amidst the scattered wreck, 

To thwart the ends the Infinite designed, 
And, in the blood of slaughtered nations check 

The path of progress and the march of mind. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE m 

XVI 

When prejudice, malevolence and hate, 

By nought of love for fellow man restrained, 
With fire and sword lays waste and desolate 

The last resource expiring hope retained. 
No fiood of tears — no passionate appeal — 

No fervent prayers — no sacrificial tires 
Can wake to shame the woe that others feel. 

Or stay the arm ambitious zeal mspires. 

XVII 

Tis not of stately piles of massive stone — 

'Tis not of bronze on public squares displayed. 
That monuments of fame are built alone, 

And deeds of crime in scales of virtue weighed ; 
But of the truth of history, obtained 

From sacred vaults to memory secured; 
The sacrifice that ardent hope sustained, 

And cruel wrongs the struggling soul endured. 

XVIII 

Nero, whose hands the reins of empire clenched. 
Reared in the school of crime and violence, 

On false pretext, in persecution quenched 
The fires of Rome in blood of innocence. 



112 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Jeffreys, in armor cased against mankind, 
A tyrant, in judicial robes disguised. 

His king and country served to leave behind 
A name abhorred, detested and despised. 

XIX 

Their names are traced on tablatures of Time, 

The synonyms of infamy and shame; 
Their lives, enduring monuments of crime — 

Their deeds, a blot upon the scroll of fame. 
No titled rank for tainted honors won — 

No marble shaft, unrighteous zeal displays — 
No letters carved in monumental stone 

Remove the stain that mocks the voice of praise. 



XX 



Beneath the sunlit skies of Georgia stands 

A monument of charred and ruined homes, 
Erected by the vandal spoiler's hands 

To magnify his name in gilded tomes. 
A monument, adown the flight of years. 

Shall witness bear before a throne of Grace, 
To vacant hearths bedrenched with widow's tears, 

And crimes no plea excuse, or Time efface. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 113, 

XXI 

And vengeance doomed the old Palmetto State, 

Whose tocsin tolled a nation's first alarm ; 
As sentinel, she barred the iron gate, 

A guard against invasion's threat'ning arm. 
The warning voice that hailed a nation's birth 

At Concord, Lexington and Bunker Hill, 
Appealed to every Southern home and hearth, 

And stirred the patriotic bosom still. 

XXII 

O'er ocean's strand her thund'ring voice awoke 

The fervent zeal that hung in grave suspense. 
And midst the din of arms and battle smoke, 

She bared her arm in Southland's self defence. 
Prompt to remove the source of pending ill, 

Beneath her iron hail of shot and shell, 
Directed with unerring aim and skill. 

The frowning battlements of Sumter fell. 

XXIII 

She paused not on the brink — the die was cast — 
The herald's voice proclaimed in thunder tone — 

The challenge given — the Rubicon is passed — 
Within the lists the gage of battle thrown. 



114 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

True to the faith for which their fathers died — 
To freemen's rights, to home and country true, 

Her gallant sons swept o'er the crimson tide 
That flowed beneath the Starry Cross of Blue. 

XXIV 

The first to answer freedom's last appeal, 

When counsels wise and peaceful efforts failed ; 
The last, in weakness sore oppressed, to feel 

The vengeful ire the scourge of war entailed. 
O'er w^asted fields the Northern legions poured, 

To make the work of conquest more complete ; 
Nor ceased until, with scourge of fire and sword, 

Her cities lie in ashes at their feet. 

XXV 

Above Columbia's smould'ring ruins rise 

A monument of infamy and crime; 
Whose lurid flames still lap the star-lit skies, 

Undimmed along the corridors of Time. 
Against defenceless homes the martial train. 

Midst infant cries and female weakness, trod 
To carve anew the path of Tamerlane 

And Attilla, the self styled scourge of God. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 115 

XXVI 

The fiends of hell dance on the chieftain's grave, 

Who gave no ear to helpless innocence; 
To woman's tears no word of kindness gave; 

To Virtue no escape from violence. 
When honor yields to brutal passion's sway, 

And manhood's arm the sword of vengeance bore, 
What voice of praise can wipe the stain away? 

Wliat flattering words a virtuous name restore? 

XXVII 

Guilt has no stain that honor will remove — 

Crime no excuse that Time will vindicate — 
Vice no pretext that virtue will approve; 

Remorse no pains regret will mitigate. 
Wrong has no plea that right will not deny; 

Falsehood no mask that Truth will not expose ; 
Hate no revenge that Love will justify. 

And hell no secrets Heaven will not disclose. 

XXVIII 

The placid smile that haunts the villian's face, 
But ill conceals the treacherous heart within, 

And gentle words, that flow with winning grace, 
But lightly veil hypocrisy and sin. 



Il6 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

In virtue's molds, with mind and heart sincere — 
In honor's path, from pride and passion free, 

The Hght of Truth and Justice will appear, 
To crystalize a grateful memory. 

XXIX 

In virtue's path the strength of manhood lies, 

And motives pure, from passion's dross refined, 
With wholesome laws and counsels just and wise, 

And hearts unselfish, generous and kind. 
Though weakness plead, and valor strove in vain 

To lift the weight enduring patience bore, 
The light of Truth and Honor still remain 

To strengthen hope and confidence restore. 

XXX 

The scene has passed — the work of carnage ceased- 

The sword is sheathed — the hostile banners furled- 
From grave suspense the anxious soul released, 

And peace proclaims her message to the world. 
Again, united in one brotherhood. 

From Northern lakes to Southern sunlit seas. 
By ties cemented with fraternal blood. 

And steadfast faith in Heaven's wise decrees. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 117 

XXXI 

Onward " the Star of Empire takes its way," 

In common cause, with freedom's flag unfurled, 
To lift above the ashes of decay 

The power and strength that dominates the world. 
Although from fields, with seeds of plenty sown. 

And homes of taste and elegance refined. 
The scourge of war has reaped the harvest grown. 

And left the rowen's stinted growth behind. 

XXXII 

Returned again to cheerful, peaceful homes, 

Domestic love and conscious righteousness, 
Where Heaven's smile in daily welcome comes, 

His deeds approve, his manly efforts bless. 
The husbandman resumes his wonted toil. 

Inspired with energy anew, obtains, 
Neath sunny skies, from grateful, genial soil. 

Reward of enterprise m honest gains. 

XXXIII 

Each in his sphere the paths of peace pursue. 
Trusting with faith in Him who reigns above. 

With earnest zeal to cultivate anew 

Fraternal ties. Benevolence and Love. 



Ii8 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

ConA'ince the world the strife was not in vain, 
Nor lost the cause that serves a common end ; 

And each and all a freeman's right sustain, 

And share alike the gifts that Heav'n may send. 

XXXIV 

A vast domain extends from sea to sea — 

Majestic rivers wind their course between — 
The arteries of life and energy, 

Through forest shades, and fields of living green. 
The hum of industry supplants the roaj 

And clam'rous voice of sanguinary strife — 
A sulphurous breath infects the air no more, 

Nor perils haunt abodes of peaceful life. 

XXXV 

Domestic love adorns the home and hearth — 

Fraternal ties of fellowship embrace 
The manly cares and sports of childish mirth 

That haunt the path of life's eventful race. 
With magic touch, imposing cities rise, 

And streams of wealth from local channels flow ; 
The rip'ning fruits of active enterprise. 

And gifts that genVous nature's hands bestov^ 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 119 

XXXVI 

The trumpet voice of war is heard no more — 

The sands of Hfe in peaceful currents flow — 
The clash of arms — the cannon's sullen roar 

Are heard alone in dreams of long ago. 
In peaceful homes sad memories recall 

The tragic scenes borne on the waning sight, 
To vanish when life's evening shadows fall, 

And twilight spreads the drapery of night. 

XXXVII 

The flush of youth, the strength of manhood's prime, 

Survive the wreck the scourge of war entailed. 
To march again in majesty sublime 

To prosp'rous peace where valiant efforts failed. 
To build anew old Southland, strong and great — 

Revive the hope that ardent zeal inspires; 
The cause of Truth and Honor vindicate, 

In ashes gleaned from sacrificial fires. 

XXXVIII 

From old Virginia's coast to Rio Grande, 
Her wasted fields, her unpretending close 

And ruined homes, beneath her plastic hand. 
Again will bud and blossom as the rose. 



120 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

And once again, above a nation's tomb, 
Her floral sweets be borne upon the air; 

And life's gay Spring its wonted joys resume, 
And hope remove the burden of despair. 

XXXIX 

Though in defeat her cherished cause went down — 

In silken folds her Starry Cross was furled; 
From Honor's field her chieftains bore the crown 

That won the admiration of the world. 
Her deeds are borne upon the lips of fame — 

Her virtues plead the justice of her cause — 
Her chivalry to calls of duty came, 

Her matchless valor earned the world's applause. 



XL 



The stones that mark the Southern soldier's fall, 

Neath Southern suns or Northern wintry skies, 
Will, ages hence to memory, recall 

The life they gave to freedom's sacrifice. 
Where'er the foeman's silent tents are spread, 

Memorials of deeds on land and sea, 
The monuments upreared to Northland's dead. 

Are monuments to Southland's chivalry. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 121 

XLI 

'Tis holy ground where martyred heroes sleep 
Neath forest shades in rude and shallow graves — 

On lonely heath — on ragged mountain steep — 
On sterile shores or depths of ocean caves. 

XLII 

With stately mien, surviving sons of Mars, 

Borne down the swift relentless tide of years, 
With marks of age and many battle scars, 

Unite again midst warm and hearty cheers. 
Though years have passed, yet each familiar face 

Calls up the memories of long ago ; 
As o'er each manly countenance we trace 

The furrowed lines that mark life's overflow. 

XLIII 

Like autumn leaves, they're falling thick and fast ; 

The frost has settled on each manly brow. 
And heads are bowed beneath the wintry blast — 

The martial step, once firm, is feeble now; 
But spirits noble, brave and true as when, 

On battle fields, they gave their manhood's prime, 
And hearts that warm to life and love again 

With mem'ries borne upon the wings of Time. 



122 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

XLIV 

Heart meets with heart in sympathy and love; 

Hand clasping hand in kind and fervent zeal, 
And comradeship, that lifts the mind above 

The leaden cares that o'er life's pathway steal; 
Youth flows again in currents fresh and warm 

As when the strength of vig'rous manhood bore. 
Through sulphurous clouds, and hail of leaden storm. 

The Starry Cross on fields of human gore. 

XLV 

Across the bridge that spans the tide of years. 

The gathered mists of Time are cleared away. 
As mem'ry, swept beyond the tide of tears. 

Recalls each act as but of yesterday . 
Fresh to the eye is drawn each battle scene ; 

The canvas glows with lines of deeper shade ; 
Beyond the wid'ning gulf that lies between. 

We see again each gallant deed displayed. 

XLVI 

In solemn mood, or warm and hearty peal, 
The marv'lous tale and merry jests go round ; 

Hairbreadth escapes, in colored visions, steal 
Unconsciously above each battle ground. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

Thus kindred hearts unite with welcome cheer, 
And embers stir of camp-fires burning low ; 

In memory's light those scenes again appear 
That shone from bivouac fires of long- aeo. 



123 



'& 



XLVII 

Of daring deeds — of bright achievements won 

In light foray, or sw^ift and daring raid ; 
Perchance, some praise for valiant service done 

In furious charge, or gallant escalade ; 
Again, in softer mood, we hear him tell, 

With voice subdued, and deep impulsive sigh. 
How, by his side, his faithful comrade fell. 

Amidst the din of war's fierce battle cry. 

XLVIII 

Withdrawn again to calm, domestic life. 

Content to share the blessings Heaven bestows — 
Retired beyond the pale of cruel strife 

To guard in peace the comfort of repose. 
They build once more, with hearts still warm and true 

To freemen's rights, the citadel of peace; 
To freedom's cause allegiance renew 

In prosperous homes and soft luxurious ease. 



124 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

XLIX 

Those vet'ran hosts will soon have passed away; 

Their virtues sleep in memories of the past; 
Their monuments, with age, moss grown and gray, 

On battle fields the light of glory cast; 
And on the spotless scroll of honor leave 

The heritage their patriot fathers won — 
Posterity, with grateful hearts, receive 

The honors due to dutv noblv done. 



The mother's heart, indelibly impressed 

With cruel wrongs the scourge of war entailed, 
And agonies that chafed ker mother's breast. 

When ruin slept where valiant efforts failed, 
Imprints upon the plastic mind and heart 

Of infancy, the story of her youth ; 
Graves in its soul, with shrewd maternal art, 

The fervent zeal of patriotic truth. 



LI 



Or, knelt beside the aged grandsire's knee, 

The childish face looks up with wond'rous eyes — 

Plants in its soul the germs of Liberty, 
From ashes gleaned of holy sacrifice. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



125 



Prolific germs that grow to vindicate 

In future years the justice of a cause, 
That wisely pleads the honor of a State, 

Sustained by Truth, and wise and wholesome laws. 



LII 



The healthy germs that spring from mind and thought, 

In which no seeds of anarchy are sown ; 
No poisonous dregs of superstitution brought 

To ease the qualm from guilty conscience grown. 
No sacrifice of female innocence, 

Unjustified by truth or lapse of time, 
Urged by fanatic zeal or false pretense. 

To venge a wrong, or justify a crime. 

LIII 

No selfish plea to bar anothers right — 

No law restrain the freedom due to all — 
No avarice or jealous pride invite 

A triumph o'er a vanquished nation's fall ; 
But with a zeal a sense of right inspires, 

Concede no plea to honest manhood's shame ; 
A will to do what duty's call requires. 

With spotless hands preserve a spotless name. 



126 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

LIV 

Crowned with the frosts of age, we see again, 

When duty cahs, to faith and honor true. 
With martial tread upon the battle plain. 

The war-worn vet'rans pass in grand review. 
Moved by the painful agonies and tears, 

By tyrants wrung from patriotic pride, 
The kindling fires of youth again appears. 

Arrayed, in martial hosts, on freedom's side. 

LV 

When Cuban valor struggled long in vain 

To lift the yoke that bore its manhood down, 
And break the galling manacles of Spain, 

And cast aside the sceptre and the crown; 
When stern revolt and patriotic zeal 

Had nobly earned the title of the free, 
The Southern heart responds to their appeal 

And lent their cause a Wheeler and a Lee. 

LVI 

Tis said God rules in a mysterious way; 

His chief designs are not without a plan; 
The world is not the creatures of a day. 

Or aimless quite the destiny of man. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 127 

We know all things together work for good, 
According as we strive to do His will, 

And trust, with faith alone, in Him who would 
Provide a balm for every human ill. 

LVH 

Since God ordained that man should till the soil, 

And sent him forth, exiled from Eden's bowers, 
To earn his bread by honest sweat and toil 

In ground accursed, through weary painful hours. 
Has good and evil struggled, each to gain 

Supremacy for diverse ends designed. 
To end, through sickness, suffering and pain, 

In death, the common lot of all mankind. 

LVIII 

And thus it is, some sow while others reap 

The fruits obtained from honest, patient toil; 
Some strive for daily bread, while others heap 

In golden hordes their gains from greed and spoil. 
From virgin soil the pioneer obtains 

The germs of thrift — the seeds of prosperous 
peace — 
Reward of toil — accumulated gains, 

Expanding wealth and soft luxurious ease. 



128 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

LIX 

'Tis said, that evil is that good may come — 

That death is Hfe — the soul's eternal rest; 
With all the ills we bear in life, there's some 

Bright hope beyond to cheer the human breast. 
The task that duty calls us to perform, 

However hard it be, let none despise; 
The bow of Heaven spans the sunlit storm, 

And angry tempests yield to brighter skies. 

LX 

God's purposes divine are far beyond 

The comprehension of the finite mind ; 
'Tis ours, in humble duty, to respond 

With pious hearts to Heaven's will resigned ; 
To look with faith beyond this mortal sphere — 

Bow to the will of Him who shapes our ends ; 
Confiding, with a mind and heart sincere, 

In God on whom our destiny depends. 

LXI 

With kind intent, concealed from mortal eyes, 

The ills humanity is called to bear. 
May prove to be but blessings in disguise, 

To test our faith in moments of despair. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 1 29 

To purge our daily lives of paltry dross, 
And lift the weak, impatient soul above 

The feeble strength, sustained beneath the Cross 
By Faith and Hope in God's redeeming Love. 

LXII 

To bear our Cross before we wear the Crown, 

To suffer ills that joy be more complete ; 
Endure the stings that drag our spirits down, 

To rise again above the storms we meet. 
To cleanse the heart — to purify the soul 

From sordid aims — from passion's dross refined — 
Subject each base design to wise control. 

And elevate the standard of mankind. 



LXIII 

! 

God, in His wisdom, formed and fashioned all 

According to His plan, divinely laid. 
And notes the crush of worlds — the sparrow's fall — 

His laws defied — His sovereign will obeyed; 
Directing all with swift, unerring hand. 

Throughout the trackless void of boundless space; 
Submissive all to His supreme command — 

Exact in revolution, time and place. 



130 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



LXIV 

The purest gem in hidden secret hes ; 

The unhewn stone the workman's skill demands- 
All noble ends we earn by sacrifice, 

And patient toil of wise and skillful hands. 
The fairest monuments of human art, 

Are but the fruits of patient, earnest toil — 
The brightest gems adorning mind and heart, 

Are gleaned from silent depths of virtue's soil. 

LXV 

Eternal life was man's primeval state — 

Sorrow and death the sequence of his fall; 
To rise above the stern demands of fate, 

He bears his cross, and dons the shroud and pall. 
By hidden paths, with good and evil strives 

To meet the ends, we know not how or when, 
That God designed — a sequel to our lives — 

That lies beyond the reach of mortal ken. 

LXVI 

The cry from Calvary that rent the veil — 
The agonies endured upon the Cross, 

To man unbarred the gate to Heaven's pale — 
A Holy sacrifice for Eden's loss. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

For fallen man, the precious blood He shed, 
Atonement made for sins of all mankind; 

Then Heavenward the guileless spirit sped, 
And left the messasre of His- Love behind. 



131 



'to 



LXVH 

The martyred Saints, whose lips bore songs of praise 

Amidst the flames that lit their funeral pile, 
Bore evidence of God's mysterious ways. 

Where faith and hope are blest with Heaven's smile ; 
And pagan Rome, in persecution, laid 

Foundations deep the Infinite design, 
Whether the truth was rightfully displayed 

In Nero's torch, or Cross of Constantine. 

LXVIII 

When stricken France, with human blood was stained, 

And Reason, throned, assumed ungodly sway. 
She found no rest while death and terror reigned, 

Till wiser counsels washed her stains away. 
Awake again from " Death's Eternal sleep," 

Once more relieved from suicidal strife, 
Her faith in God in sacred rev'rence keep, 

Was dying France restored again to life. 



132 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

LXIX 

Though in her breast the fires of hope were dead, 

And Europe strove to drag her colors down, 
United strength, by tow'ring genius led, 

Laid at her feet the mitre and the crown. 
Her chivalry to glory's standard flew 

With one accord to serve a nation's will. 
Till power swept the field of Waterloo, 

Yet vineclad France survives a nation still. 

LXX 

As tempests sweep across the pathless seas. 

And scattered wrecks are strewn upon the shore. 
And shrieks are borne upon each passing breeze. 

Midst lightning's glare and wild tempestuous roar. 
The stagnant air and waters purify — 

The germs remove of pestilence and woe — 
The springs of life and energy supply 

With all the blessings Heaven and earth bestow. 

LXXI 

So God directs the destiny of all, 

Through persecution, temptest, iiood and fiame, 
A nation's source, its progress, rise and fall. 

To bless mankind, and magnify His name. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 133 



To elevate the standard of mankind — 

Adjust the right, in scales of justice weighed — 

Exalt the soul, and purify the mind — 

Complete the scheme for man's redemption laid. 

LXXII 

Infinite Grace of Him who reigns above, 

And fashions all according to His will; 
Who chastens those on whom he sheds His love, 

And with a frown imparts a blessing still ; 
Whose vigilance directs and governs all 

Created things ; and, with unerring hands, 
Adjusts ahke events, both great and small. 

Subservient each to His Divine commands. 

LXXHI 

The arbiter of nations, His decrees 

Are wise and just, supreme beyond control — 
Conceding naught to man's unrighteous pleas — 

Adjusting each to harmonize the whole; 
His promises perform — His works complete — 

His laws enforce — His prophecies fulfill. 
And each and all the ends of justice meet. 

Let retribution fall on whom it will. 



134 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

LXXIV 

The storm has passed — its thrilling echoes died 

On placid stream, on mountain, hill and vale; 
Extremes upon the waves of passion ride; 

Yet love survives, though valiant efforts fail; 
And loyal hearts their faithful vigils keep, 

Whose watchfires burn with animated glow, 
Fame rests upon the rugged mountain steep, 

And glory sleeps upon the field below. 

LXXV 

Emerged from strife a sense of duty lay ; 

The shaded paths of peaceful life pursue. 
To clear the scattered wrecks of war away, 

And build the temple of our hopes anew; 
Accept the gifts that nature's hands bestow — 

Suppress the sense of prejudice and pride — 
A generous hand extend to friend and foe, 

And on the waves of civil progress ride. 

LXXVI 



To ruined homes and desolated plains, 

Neath Heaven's smile, from Southland's 
skies 

And genial clime, a grateful soil remains 
To bless the fruits of honest enterprise. 



sunny 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 135 

Prolific germs of genius, wealth and power. 
Sown in the soil of virtue, pure and chaste, 

Spring forth to meet the cool, refreshing shower. 
Like thirsting flowers upon a desert waste. 

LXXVII 

The springs of life and energy resume 

The wonted cares of calm domestic peace ; 
On battle fields the fragrant flowers bloom. 

And streams of blessings flow from Heaven's 
increase. 
The sturdy plowman treads the sanguine field — 

In furrowed lines upturns the freshened soil. 
And sprouting germs abundant harvest yield 

In recompense for honest, faithful toil. 

LXXVIII 

Majestic streams their ample tribute bring 

Of harvest reaped from valley, hill and plain — 
From fertile soil the germs of commerce spring — 

Luxuriant fields, and stores of golden grain. 
Her mountains teem with hidden wealth untold 

To kindly greet the hardy sons of toil. 
And sunset skies their gorgeous views unfold, 

Inviting ease and rest from life's turmoil. 



136 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

LXXIX 



Brave Southern hearts, in cherished mem'ry let 

The smoke of incense from thine altars rise, 
Nor in despair, at freedom's shrine, forget 

The cause of Truth and Justice never dies. 
To patriot's eyes thy stars will never dim, 

Or lustre fade upon the waning sight; 
Directed by unerring hands of Him 

Whose ways are just — who doth all things aright. 

LXXX 

Before us lies the path of duty then, 

That leads to honor, glory and renown; 
To lift the foundered Ship of State again 

Above the waves that bore her colors down ; 
To steer her course upon the angry seas 

Of petty strife — direct and safely moor 
Her freighted hopes in ports of prosperous peace — 

Her pow'r restore — her lawful rights secure. 

LXXXI 

And true to self — to faith and honor true — 
True to the cause in which our fathers died ; 

Building the temple of our hopes anew. 
Unmoved by selfish arrogance and pride; 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 137 

With conscience free from sense of guilty stain — 
Endowed with strength of will to do and dare, 

Trusting in Heaven's justice to sustain 
The zeal that lifts the burden of despair. 

LXXXII 

Sow seeds of thrift upon the barren field — 

Plant roses where the thorn and thistle grow ; 
And hidden springs of prosp'rous life revealed, 

Through channels pure in peaceful currents flow. 
Build in the temple of the heart the fires 

That warm to life again its feeble tide — 
Revive the faith that ardent hope inspires, 

And bravely o'er the waves of passion ride. 

LXXXIII 

With burnished arms — the flash of mind and thought — 

In armor cased 'gainst falsehood and deceit; 
The sword of Truth, by hands of Justice wrought. 

And shield of faith to ward the storms we meet. 
To lift on high, with firm and steady hand 

And blinded eyes, the scales 'tween right and wrong, 
Subservient all to His divine command. 

Whose arm protects the weak against the strong. 



138 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

LXXXIV 

Reposing faith in God's eternal Truth — 

Invoking strength and wisdom from above — 
InstilHng virtue in the mind of youth — 

Inspiring hope and patriotic love. 
With motives pure — hearts honest and sincere, 

In honor's name discharge each sacred trust — 
Upon each mound let fall a silent tear, 

And consecrate with love the soldier's dust. 

LXXXV 

With fortitude endure a country's woes — 

With patient toil the springs of life renew — 
With pride revere the memory of those 

Who fell beneath the Starry Cross of Blue ; 
While from their graves heroic spirits rise 

To vindicate a just and righteous cause. 
Sustained by Truth in God's impartial eyes, 

And justified by God's eternal laws. 

LXXXVI 

Building our hopes in temples firm and strong 

Neath freedom's flag by freemen's hands unfurled, 

Alay Justice hold the scales 'tween right and wrong, 
And Truth proclaim her verdict to the world; 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 139 

Fraternal love in hope and quiet dwell — 

Domestic peace surround each home and hearth — 

Each Sabbath morn with Christian anthems swell- 
Each dewy eve resound with childish mirth. 

LXXXVII 

A duty then, to each and all we owe, 

To rise above the waves of petty .strife ; 
The ashes stir of camp-fires burning low, 

As shadows fall upon the path of life. 
No chilling winds from Northern blasts congeal, 

With icy breath, the fountains of the heart; 
No base designs of selfishness conceal 

The Truth that faith and confidence impart. 

LXXXVIII 

No bickering voice disturb fraternal ties — 

No unkind word dissolve the bonds of love — 
No clouds obscure the calm and peaceful skies, 

Inviting each to brighter skies above. 
But as the years sweep o'er the stage of men. 

May each the ties of comradeship renew, 
And grasp each hand as cordially as when 

They bore unfurled the Starry Cross of Blue. 



140 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 



LXXXIX 

Of veteran hosts, who joined the deadly fray, 

And, side by side, resolved to do or die, 
But few remain to clear the smoke away, 

And scattered wrecks that o'er the pathway lie. 
Glean from the fields of nature's ample store. 

By honest toil, the fruits of Heaven's increase, 
And steer old Southland's Ship of State once more, 

O'er stormy wastes, to prosperous ports of peace. 



XC 



Those who survive will soon have passed away; 

The genial smile may fade from mem'ry's page, 
And pass beyond the visions of to-day. 

And leave behind the glorious heritage 
Of val'rous deeds inscribed on honor's shield, 

And names engraved on monumental stone; 
Of battle scars, borne from the sanguine field. 

And mossy graves with seeds of freedom sown. 

XCI 

May loyal sons and daughters venerate 
With filial pride, the story of their lives ; 

Their glorious deeds of virtue emulate, 

While life remains and patient hope survives. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 141 

And Heaven's smile each noble effort bless — 
On prosp'rous peace her lavish bounties pour, 

And Justice plead the cause of righteousness, 
And Truth, good faith, and confidence restore. 

XCII 

Ere yet the past fades on the waning sight. 

Or herald's voice of praise grows faint and low, 
May cordial love and comradeship unite 

In one the sacred ties of long ago. 
In chorus join in one harmonious strain — 

With charity forgiving and forbear — 
In polished lines, unmarred by guilt or stain. 

Perpetuate the honors each would share ; 

XCIII 

To follow where the path of duty lies — 

To keep each pledge. of faith inviolate; 
Nor on fair freedom's altar sacrifice 

To selfish schemes the honor of a State. 
To cultivate a patriotic zeal, 

Deeply impressed upon the heart of youth, 
And guard against the calumnies that steal, 

Bv craft, into the citadel of Truth. 



142 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

XCIV 

May love and peace invest the quiet home — 

Void of offense may Christian virtue shine; 
For woe to him from whom offences come, 

Are warning words that fell from lips Divine. 
Adhere with faith to all that Heaven requires — 

The Truth reveal on Time's historic page — 
And embers stir of sacrificial fires, 

To light the path of life's dark pilgrimage. 

xcv 

Crown with success the hopes we cherished most, 

As step by step the rugged steeps we climb — 
A light display upon the rocky coast. 

To guard against the stranded wrecks of Time. 
Till far adown the ceaseless flood of years, 

Borne o'er the shoals of sorrow and distress. 
With flag unfurled, the Ship of State appears, 

Moored safely in the harbor of success. 

XCVI 

Reposing in a consciousness of right, 
Rebuild the temple of our hopes secure; 

That Truth and Justice cast unerring light 
Of reason drained from crystal fountains pure. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 143 

With these to nerv^e the restless spirit on 
To bloodless fields of honor and renown, 

Loud shouts of praise will meet the rising dawn, 
And right adjudged to wear the victor's crown. 

XCVII 

With mind and conscience pure and undefiled — 

With hearts sincere in all we dare or do, 
Forget not when the hosts of vict'ry smiled 

On sunny Southland's Starry Cross of Blue. 
So live, that when thy faithful term has passed, 

And spirits swell the ranks now gone before, 
Each soul, relieved from duty's call at last, 

Will joyful welcome meet on yonder shore. 

XCVIII 

Nor, midst life's cares, forget the gallant slain. 

Whose mem'ry rests in monumental fame — 
Mute sentinels upon the sanguine plain. 

To guard in peace the valiant soldier's name. 
Nor veil from sight the noble sacrifice. 

Whose smoke arose above the deadly feud. 
Fed by the fervent zeal that underlies 

The springs of hope and patient fortitude. 



144 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

XCIX 

No stains deface the monuments that rise 

O'er peaceful graves where honored heroes sleep; 
As marble shafts point up to noonday skies, 

And sleepless stars their nightly vigils keep. 
And thus adown the avenues of Time, 

Will freedom's cause the herald's voice proclaim, 
And triumph shout, in majesty sublime : 

God's will is done — Praised be His Holy name. 



Of metal pure, in virtue's mold recast. 

Will thus, again, a nation, strong and great, 
Rise, Phoenix-like, from ashes of the past. 

To triumph in the just decrees of fate; 
Her honor guard, her chartered rights protect; 

With hope from sacrificial altars rise. 
And on her blood-stained battle fields erect 

The monuments of thrift and enterprise. 



CI 



Then let us cast our banners to the breeze. 
Resolved the good accept, the evil shun ; 

Submitting all to Heaven's wise decrees. 

With steadfast faith in God, and pray, THY WILl- 
BE DONE. 



ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 145 

L' E N V O I 



Go, little book; Thy friendly message bear 

On wings of Love to Southland's sunny clime, 
Where Faith and Hope gave ear to fervent prayer 

And fortitude, heroic and sublime. 
Display each scene on tablatures of Time ; 

Breathe sympathy in Love's attentive ears ; 
Commemorate the zeal of manhood's prime, 

With memories borne upon the flood of years, 
Crimsoned with freemen's blood — besprent with 
woman's tears. 



II 



Go, vindicate a just and righteous cause; 

Thy trusted message bear from sire to son ; 
Extol the deeds that won the world's applause, 

And matchless fame heroic valor won. 
Commend the zeal for duty nobly done 

In cheerless homes — on sanguine battle plain. 
As shadows fell upon life's setting sun, 

And anxious souls, in prayer, appealed in vain 
The loved and lost restore to Love and Life again. 



146 ALTARS OF SACRIFICE 

III 

Go, tell the world how martyred heroes fell — 

Of sacrifice their valiant spirits gave, 
To loyal hearts thy simple story tell 

Of those who marched to glory and the grave. 
May Truth confirm the title of the brave, 

And Justice plead before impartial eyes. 
Wherever freedom's starlit banners wave, 

The honors due to those whose spirits rise, 
From altars stained with blood of holy Sacrifice. 




IViAH 18 1908 



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